pagoda, tower, steeple
塔 centers on a tall, multi-tiered structure: a pagoda, tower, or steeple. These all share the idea of a vertical, often religious or monumental building.
塔 combines 土 (earth, ground) with 荅, which likely contributes the sound. The character originally referred to a Buddhist pagoda or stupa, a tall earthen structure.
The left side 土 is earth or ground, and the right side 荅 looks like a plant growing upward with a roof on top. Picture a tall earthen tower rising from the ground like a plant, with a pointed roof like a pagoda.
For トウ, imagine a tall tower casting a long shadow at two o'clock: two -> トウ, and the tower stands tall on the earth.
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tower; steeple; spire
gun turret
Eiffel Tower
billboard; advertising tower
steel tower
control tower; conning tower
pyramid
control tower
spire; steeple; pinnacle; minaret
Tower of Babel
TV tower
five-storied pagoda
tall tower; large tower
chow missing one tile
stone tower; stone pagoda
stupa; pagoda
small Zen temple built to commemorate the death of a high priest
stupa; dagoba
two-storied Buddhist tower
stupa; pagoda