八日
ようか · youka · JLPT N5 · noun
days
📅 八日 = eight + day; youka sounds like yolk-a: eight yolks, eighth day
八 (eight) + 日 (day). The reading ようか is native Japanese: old yatsu (eight) + ka (day counter) contracted to yōka. Beware 四日 yokka (4th) — short o, doubled k. 八日 has the long ō: yooo-ka.
八 — two strokes diverging outward
Originally a pictograph of two lines splitting apart, meaning 'to divide' or 'separate.' It was later borrowed phonetically to write the number eight, and this borrowed numerical sense became dominant. The original 'divide' meaning survives in compounds like 分.
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'.