The word "跌宕" is formed by combining the character "跌", meaning to fall or tumble and composed of the radical "足" (foot) with the phonetic component "失", and the character "宕", meaning to delay or be expansive and composed of the radical "宀" (roof) with the component "石" (stone); their semantic merger yields a term describing rhythmic or narrative起伏不平 (ups and downs).