光
Sunlight
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| こう | ひかり |  + 儿 |
Meaning: Sunlight
You see a triceratops in the distance… but you notice its legs in particular. Why? Because those legs are made out of light.
The legs are actually light sabers, and he’s running around on them, battling with them, and doing everything else with them. It’s an absolutely crazy sight, so make sure you envision it clearly so you remember that triceratops + legs = light, because the triceratops legs are made of light.
Reading: こう
Who’s the triceratops fighting with his light legs? He’s fighting こういち. Luckily こういち has a light saber too, and he’s able to kind of hold off the triceratops, but just barely.
Continue the story in your head. Do you save こういち, do you let him get defeated by the triceratops (because the triceratops is definitely going to win… its a triceratops)? It’s up to you, but make sure you make the conclusion pretty epic and awesome (and save me! I don’t want to die this way… wait, I take that back, this would be an awesome way to die).
Vocabulary
a 光（ひかり）＝ Light
- Meaning: The same as the kanji.
- Reading: The kun’yomi reading. You have to remember the entire thing (ひかり) to get the kun’yomi reading. You could think about a guy, who carries the light. What would you say about him? He carries (ひかり) the light to the earth from the sun.
a 光る（ひかる）＝ To Shine
- Meaning: The meaning is the verb form of the kanji.
- Reading: If you know the reading of 光 you can use that to remember this one as well (just remember this one has the る sticking out, though, and 光 is more often the whole package).
a 光年（こうねん）＝ Light Year
- Combo: 光 (light) + 年 (year)
- Meaning: Probably a word someone came up with a lot later, after people figured out about this kind of thing.
a 月光（げっこう）＝ Moon Light
- Combo: 月 (moon) + 光 (light)
- Meaning: So self explanatory
- Reading: The on’yomi readings of the kanji – 月 (げつ) is shortened, though, so take note.
a 日光（にっこう）＝ Sunlight
- Combo: 日 (sun) + 光 (light)
- Meaning: Even more self explanatory than 月光
- Reading: On’yomi readings of the kanji – 日 (にち) is shortened, though.