作家
さっか · sakka · JLPT N3 · noun
writer
✍️📚 作家 = make + house: a house that makes books
作 means make or create, as in 作る (tsukuru). 家 means house, and also a person who works at a craft. So a sakka is someone whose craft is making stories. Sound hook: sakka sounds like soccer, and a writer kicks out one book after another.
作 — person radical 亻 + 乍
作 combines the person radical 亻 with 乍, which originally depicted a sudden action or making something. The character means 'to do, make, or create,' with 亻 indicating human activity and 乍 supplying the sound. Over time it broadened to cover works, deeds, and acting as something.
家 — roof 宀 + pig 豕
Originally a pictograph of a pig under a roof, since domesticated pigs were kept in or under the home in ancient China. Over time the meaning broadened from 'household' to 'family,' and by extension 'home' or a specialist (as in 专家, 'expert').