Origin

This character combines a movement or path radical on the left with a sound component on the right. The left side indicates the character relates to going or traveling, while the right component 失 provides a phonetic hint for how to pronounce it. Over time, the sense of movement evolved into the idea of things alternating or taking turns — like travelers exchanging places on a road or people passing responsibilities back and forth. The character thus came to mean transfer or alternation, where one thing leaves and another arrives in its place.