曲る
まがる · magaru · JLPT N5 · verb-godan
to turn
↩️ 曲 = a bent thing, also a melody (曲); magaru: the road makes a MAGic U-turn
The kanji 曲 means bent or crooked, and it is the same character used for a tune (a melody bends up and down). Sound hook: ma-ga-ru is close to magic U, as in a road that magically U-turns. Usually written 曲がる.
曲 — pictograph of a bent carpenter's tool or curved object
曲 is a pictograph showing a bent or curved shape, originally depicting a carpenter's measuring tool or a curved frame. From this concrete image of bending came the abstract senses of 'crooked,' 'wrong,' and 'tune/melody' (since songs follow winding contours). The reading qū carries the bending senses, while qǔ means 'song.'