落る
おちる · ochiru · JLPT N4 · verb-ichidan
to fall
🍂 落 = plant radical 艹 + 洛 (sound part): leaves dropping off a plant
The top of 落 is the plant radical 艹, and the kanji first described leaves coming off a tree. 洛 underneath gives the on-reading raku, as in 落下 (rakka, a fall). Sound hook for the verb: ochiru starts like 'Oh!', the thing you say when something drops.
落 — grass radical 艹 + 洛 (water 氵 + 各)
Originally written with the grass radical 艹 over 洛, depicting leaves falling from plants. 洛 serves as the phonetic component (giving the luò sound) while 艹 supplies the meaning of vegetation. The sense extended from 'leaves falling' to the general meaning of falling, dropping, or settling down.