日当たり
ひあたり · hiatari · JLPT N2 · noun
sun
☀️ 日 = sun + 当たり = hitting (当たる): sunlight hitting a place makes it a sunny spot
当たる means to hit or strike. Sun (日) hitting a place gives 日当たり, exposure to sunlight. Say hi-a-ta-ri, with 日 as hi and 当たり as a-ta-ri.
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'.
当 — small ⺌ + crown 冖 + hand 彐 (simplified from 當: 尚 + 田)
Originally written 當, combining 田 'field' with 尚 as a phonetic. The early sense was 'to match' or 'face' a field of equal value, extended to 'correspond to', 'ought to', and 'serve as'. The simplified form 当 streamlines the upper 尚 component.