土 Radical 32 — earth, soil; ground

Where the shape comes from

A heap of earth standing on the ground: the lower horizontal is the ground line, and the short vertical with the bar above it is the mound piled on it — in the oldest reading, an altar of banked soil. It marks ground, building and place: 地, 在, 坐, 场, 城, 块.

characters filed under 土

• 在zài (fourth tone, falling)to be at, to be in, to exist, to be present; at, in, on (before a place); (before a verb) the progressive marker6
• 坐zuò (fourth tone, falling)to sit, to be seated; to travel by (a vehicle); (of a building) to face a direction7
• 城chéng (second tone, rising)a city wall; a walled city; a city, a town9