四日
よっか · yokka · JLPT N5 · noun
days
📅 四日 = four + day; yokka is the native yo (four) + ka (day)
Days of the month use old native Japanese numbers: yo is four (as in yottsu) and ka is the native counter for days. The small tsu doubles the k: yo-kka. Careful: yokka is the 4th, while youka (八日) with a long o is the 8th.
四 — enclosure 囗 + divide 八
Originally 四 was written as four horizontal strokes (亖), a simple tally for the number four. The current form, showing 八 (divide) inside an enclosure 囗, was borrowed during the Zhou dynasty and gradually replaced the older tally form. The shape is unrelated to its meaning today.
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'.