起
qǐ
Whatever was pinned down lifts: 起
The picture Something that was flat against the ground floating up off it. 起 lifts off the ground; 落 comes down out of the air and settles back onto it.
Where the picture shows up in 起
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your body lifts off the bed
我每天六点起床。
wǒ měitiān liù diǎn qǐchuáng
I get up at six every day.
A body pinned under the quilt lifting chest-first and floating up off the bed
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lift out of your seat
请大家站起来。
qǐng dàjiā zhàn qǐlái
Everyone please stand.
Backsides coming unstuck from chairs as a row of people rises
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time lifts off from here
从明天起，我要早点睡。
cóng míngtiān qǐ, wǒ yào zǎodiǎn shuì
From tomorrow I'm going to bed earlier.
An arrow starting from tomorrow's box on the calendar and running upward from there
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you can't lift that weight
这个太贵，我买不起。
zhège tài guì, wǒ mǎi bu qǐ
It's too expensive — I can't afford it.
Trying to lift a price tag and finding your arm has no strength for it, as if the thing were glued down
买不起 isn't 'unavailable', it's 'I haven't the strength to lift that price'. If the shop is out of stock, that's 买不到.
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you can't lift your face
对不起，我来晚了。
duìbuqǐ, wǒ lái wǎn le
Sorry I'm late.
A head pressed down toward the floor by shame, unable to lift toward the other person's face
对不起 pictures standing before someone and not being able to raise your face to them.
All of it in one picture
起 is something flat against the ground floating up off it. The body lifts off the bed and you are up; the backside lifts off the chair and you are standing; an arrow lifts off tomorrow's box and it is from tomorrow onward. Then, when the lift fails, the sense flips: an arm with no strength for the price cannot afford it, and a face that stays pressed down is the face of an apology. So 起 is always asking whether the lift is there or not.