景色
jǐngsè · HSK 3
scenery
🏞️ 景色 = scenery/view + color/hue → the colors of a scene
景 (jǐng) means scenery or view; 色 (sè) means color. Together they describe the colors and features of a landscape — the visual makeup of a place, hence scenery or outlook.
景 — sun 日 on top + capital 京 below (phonetic)
景 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 日 (sun) gives the meaning and 京 (jīng, capital) supplies the sound. It originally meant 'sunlight' or 'bright', then extended to 'shadow cast by sunlight', and later broadened to 'scenery' or 'view'.
色 — person 人 (top) + kneeling figure 卩 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph showing one person above another, traditionally interpreted as depicting facial expressions or intimate posture between two people. The earliest meaning was 'facial expression' or 'countenance,' which extended to 'appearance' and eventually 'color' (the look of things). The 'shǎi' reading is a colloquial variant used for everyday color words.