亮 (liàng) · bright, shiny, loud and clear

Meanings

1 bright
2 shiny
3 loud and clear

Characters

亮

liàng

bright; light

The character originally depicted a high window letting light in.

Examples

HSK 1

这个房间很亮。

Zhège fángjiān hěn liàng.

This room is very bright.

HSK 1

月亮很亮。

Yuèliang hěn liàng.

The moon is very bright.

HSK 1

天亮了。

Tiānliàng le.

It's dawn.

Tips

usage

天亮 = dawn (sky becomes bright). 月亮 (yuèliang) = the moon (the bright one in the sky).

Components

radical

亠 tóu

lid; top stroke

Top 亠 (Kangxi #8) - the indexing radical, a horizontal stroke under a dot, abstractly suggesting a lid or roof. Indexes a small set of 'topped' characters: 亮, 京 capital, 高 tall, 交 exchange, 亥 last earthly branch. Here it sits as the cap of a tall tower scene drawn below.

semantic

口 kǒu

mouth; opening

Upper-middle 口 - pictographic 'opening,' here a window or porthole in the structure depicted by the whole character. 亮 originally drew a tall watchtower (the 京-shape) with a person 几 standing on top to catch the light at dawn - the 口 is the high window through which light streamed.

semantic

冖 mì

cover; canopy

Lower-middle cover-shape - a stroke with hooks at each end, picturing a canopy over the lower compartment. Stacked under the window 口 it completes the upper storey of the watchtower; below it stands the figure 几. The whole char is indexed under Kangxi #8 亠 (tóu, lid) - the cap stroke topping the silhouette.

semantic

几 jī

small table; figure

Bottom 几 - here pictures a person standing on the watchtower platform (a contracted form of 人 in the 高/京 family), gazing out toward the dawn light. The whole stack - lid, window, canopy, figure - is the original tableau of 'brightness': someone high up catching the first light.