不通
ふつう · futsuu · JLPT N3 · noun
blockade
🚧 不通 = not (不) + pass through (通): nothing gets through
Used for cut-off lines and routes, e.g. 電話が不通 (the phone line is dead) or 交通不通 (traffic suspended). Don't confuse it with its sound-alike 普通 (futsuu, ordinary): only the 不 version means nothing is getting through.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.
通 — 辵 (辶) walk + 甬 yǒng (phonetic)
通 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 辶 (chuò) component means 'walk' or 'movement', giving the meaning of going through or passing. 甬 (yǒng), originally depicting a hanging bell or a path, supplies the sound. Together they convey 'to pass through, communicate, connect'.