暗 (àn) · dark; dim

Meanings

1 dark; dim
2 secret; hidden; covert

Characters

暗

àn

dark; dim; secret

Combines 日 (sun) with 音 (sound) - when the sun is hidden, leaving only sound in the darkness.

Examples

HSK 2

天暗下来了。

Tiān àn xiàlái le.

The sky got dark.

HSK 3

房间里很暗，开灯吧。

Fángjiān lǐ hěn àn, kāidēng ba.

The room is very dark, turn on the light.

HSK 3

他暗暗地喜欢她。

Tā àn'àn de xǐhuan tā.

He secretly likes her.

Tips

memory

日 (sun) + 音 (sound) - when the sun makes no sound, it has gone dark.

Components

radical

日 rì

sun (left-side radical)

Left sun radical (Kangxi #72) - the four-stroke pictograph of the sun with a central stroke for sunspots. Anchors 暗 in the time-of-day-and-light family alongside 明 (bright), 晚 (late), 早 (early), 暮 (dusk), 晴 (clear weather). Tells the reader: 暗 is fundamentally about light - specifically, its absence.

phonetic

音 yīn

sound (phonetic)

Right phonetic 音 - supplies the sound (yīn drifted to àn, regular onset shift; cf. 谙 ān, 黯 àn). Originally 立 'stand' over 曰 'speak' = voiced utterance, hence 'sound.' Adds a faint flavour: sound without light = darkness experienced by ear. Family: 黯, 谙, 喑, 揞.