亮 (liàng): bright

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

这个房间很亮。

Zhège fángjiān hěn liàng.

This room is very bright.

月亮很亮。

Yuèliang hěn liàng.

The moon is very bright.

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.