土曜日
どようび · doyoubi · JLPT N5 · noun
Saturday
🪐 土曜日 = earth/soil + day of the week: Saturn's day, since Saturn is the earth star
土 (do) means earth or soil, and 曜日 (youbi) means day of the week. Saturn is 土星, the earth star, so Saturday is Saturn's day in Japanese just as in English. Sound hook: do-youbi, as in what DO YOU do on Saturday?
土 — pictograph of a mound of earth on the ground
土 is a pictograph showing a lump or mound of soil resting on the ground line. In oracle bone script it depicted an earthen heap, sometimes interpreted as an altar to the earth god. The meaning has remained stable: earth, soil, or ground.
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'.