fall
fɔːl
Why falling asleep is the same word as falling off a ladder
The picture A hand slowly loosening its grip on a branch, and the body going down. Nothing pushes it; the thing holding it up simply lets go. RISE is going up under your own power; FALL is going down because the support let go.
Where the picture shows up in fall
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Going down
He fell off the ladder and hurt his arm.
hiː fel ɔːf ðə ˈlædər ænd hɜːrt hɪz ɑːrm
He came off the ladder and hurt his arm.
A foot slipping off a rung and the whole body dropping.
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Numbers sinking
Prices fell sharply last month.
ˈpraɪsɪz fel ˈʃɑːrpli læst mʌnθ
Prices went down sharply last month.
A graph line losing its footing and sliding downward.
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A date landing
My birthday falls on a Sunday this year.
maɪ ˈbɜːrθdeɪ fɔːlz ɒn ə ˈsʌndeɪ ðɪs jɪr
My birthday lands on a Sunday this year.
A pebble tossed at a calendar and settling into one square.
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Sliding into a state
She fell asleep during the meeting.
ʃiː fel əˈsliːp ˈdjʊərɪŋ ðə ˈmiːtɪŋ
She dropped off to sleep during the meeting.
A mind that was holding on letting go and sinking into sleep.
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Standing, then collapsing
The old wall finally fell in the storm.
ðə oʊld wɔːl ˈfaɪnəli fel ɪn ðə stɔːrm
The old wall finally came down in the storm.
A wall that was upright losing its strength and sitting down all at once.
All of it in one picture
FALL is the picture of support giving way. When a body loses it, you drop off a ladder. When a number loses it, the price sinks. When a date lands on a calendar square, that day becomes the one. When the mind stops holding on, sleep takes over, and when a wall stops holding itself up, it comes down. Every FALL carries the same feeling of a grip being released.