路灯
lù dēng · HSK 7
street lamp
🛣️💡 路灯 = 路 (road) + 灯 (lamp): the lamp that lines a road
路 lù is the road/street you already know from 马路; 灯 dēng is lamp, the same character in 红绿灯 (traffic light). Stack them and you get the lamp standing along the road: a street lamp.
路 — foot 足 + each 各 (phonetic)
路 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The foot radical 足 on the left signals meaning related to walking or travel, while 各 on the right hints at the ancient pronunciation. Originally referring to a road traveled on foot, it broadened to mean 'road, path, route' in general.
灯 — fire radical 火 + ding 丁 (phonetic)
灯 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 火 'fire' gives the meaning (lamps once burned oil or flame), while 丁 hints at the sound. It is the simplified form of the traditional 燈, which used 登 as the phonetic. Today it means 'lamp' or 'light'.