六
ろく · roku · JLPT N5 · noun
six
🎲 roku sounds like rock: six rocks, roku
Roku is the Sino-Japanese reading, borrowed from Middle Chinese (compare Mandarin liù, Cantonese luhk). The sound-alike rock gives the first syllable; add a short u and you have roku. Six is the highest face on a die.
六 — top stroke 亠 + 八 (eight/split)
Originally a pictograph, possibly depicting a hut or shelter, but its early meaning was lost. It was borrowed phonetically to write the number 'six'. The modern form shows a top mark 亠 over 八, but this structure is not semantic — it's purely a loan character for the numeral.