映像
えいぞう · eizou · JLPT N1 · noun
contemplation
🪞 映 = reflect, shine on + 像 = likeness, so 映像 = a reflected likeness
映 (ei) means to reflect or shine on something. 像 (zou) means likeness or figure. Together, 映像 is a likeness cast back by a surface, like the reflection in a mirror or the image on a screen.
映 — sun 日 + center 央 (phonetic)
映 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The sun radical 日 gives the meaning—light, shining, reflection—while 央 (yāng) supplies the sound, shifted to yìng. It originally described sunlight shining on something, and now broadly means 'reflect,' 'shine upon,' or 'project' (as in films).
像 — person radical 亻 + elephant 象
Originally 象 alone meant 'elephant' and by extension 'image/likeness,' since elephants were rare and people knew them mainly through depictions. The 亻 (person) radical was later added to specialize the meaning as 'image, likeness, resemble,' leaving 象 for the animal itself.