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

房间里很暗，开灯吧。

Fángjiān lǐ hěn àn, kāidēng ba.

The room is very dark, turn on the light.

他暗暗地喜欢她。

Tā àn'àn de xǐhuān tā.

He secretly likes her.

天暗下来了。

Tiān àn xiàlái le.

The sky got dark.

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.