起伏

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 起伏 is read as きふく and is a noun for physical undulations or figurative ups and downs in emotion or condition.
• Basic usage: Terrain appears in 道は起伏が多い, while emotional variation appears in 感情の起伏が激しい.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Terrain and emotion
  • It can describe literal rises and falls in a road or figurative fluctuations in a person’s feelings.
• Difference from 高低
  • 高低 is the difference between high and low; 起伏 emphasizes a continuing pattern of rises and falls.