写真
しゃしん · shashin · JLPT N5 · noun
picture
📷 写真 = copy (写) + truth (真): a photo copies reality
写 means to copy or transcribe, and 真 means true or real. A photograph is literally a copy of the truth. Sound hook: shashin starts like shutter, the part of a camera that clicks.
写 — 宀 roof + 与 (phonetic, simplified from 寫)
Originally 寫 depicted placing something under a roof (宀), extended to mean 'to set down' and then 'to write/copy'. The simplified form 写 keeps the roof but replaces the complex inner element with 与, which also hints at the sound. Today it broadly means 'to write' or 'to depict'.
真 — 匕 (spoon) over 目 (eye) over 八 (eight/base)
真 originally depicted a person or vessel used in ritual, conveying the idea of something genuine or true. Over time the form was reanalyzed as components like 匕, 目, and a base, but the core meaning of 'real, true, genuine' has remained stable since early bronze inscriptions.