夜
よる · yoru · JLPT N5 · noun
night
🌙 yoru: when night falls, YOU'RE Under the covers
Sound-alike: yoru is close to you're-oo. The kanji 夜 has a lid radical 亠 on top and contains 夕 (evening) inside, so the character itself says evening under a cover = night.
夜 — 亠 lid + 亻 person + 夕 evening moon
夜 originally depicted a person (亻) under a roof (亠) with the moon (夕) beside them, evoking nighttime rest. The moon component 夕 carries the meaning of evening, while the surrounding elements set the scene of a person at night. Over time it came to mean 'night' in general.
よ · yo · JLPT N3 · noun
night
🌙 夜 = roof 亠 + person 亻 + evening 夕: a person under a roof as evening comes
The 夕 (evening) part is your clue to the meaning. For the sound, say Yo, good night. On its own the word is usually read よる (yoru); the short reading よ shows up in words like 夜中 (yonaka, midnight).
夜 — 亠 lid + 亻 person + 夕 evening moon
夜 originally depicted a person (亻) under a roof (亠) with the moon (夕) beside them, evoking nighttime rest. The moon component 夕 carries the meaning of evening, while the surrounding elements set the scene of a person at night. Over time it came to mean 'night' in general.