七日
なのか · nanoka · JLPT N5 · noun
days
📅 七日 = seven + day; nano is the native seven (nana) and ka counts days
Days 2-10 use native Japanese numbers plus the day counter -ka: futsuka, mikka, yokka... Seven is nana, which shortens to nano before -ka. So nanoka = seven-day, used both for a span of seven days and for the 7th of the month.
七 — single horizontal stroke 一 + vertical hook 乚
Originally a pictograph showing a horizontal line cut by a vertical stroke, representing the act of cutting — the early meaning of 'cut' (later written 切). It was borrowed phonetically to write the number seven, and that borrowed numerical meaning became standard, while the original 'cut' sense moved to 切.
日 — pictograph of the sun
日 is a pictograph of the sun, originally drawn as a circle with a dot or stroke inside representing the sun's substance. Over time the round shape was squared off into the modern rectangular form. It means 'sun' and by extension 'day'.