阜
フ, フウ, おか, ぎふのふ

hill, mound, left village radical (no. 170)

JLPT0 G7 S8 F1532

A representation of bulging earth + 十 (gather) → bulging *mound*/*hill* → *piled earth*. Confusingly, when used as an element in dual-element characters, 阜 is written as 阝, the same simplification as employed for 邑 village/settlement. The difference is that 阜 appears on the left (examples: 防, 限, or 陷) while 邑 appears on the right (examples: 邦, 邸, or 郊).

[Full Kanji Etymology List]