清掃
せいそう · seisou · JLPT N2 · noun
cleaning
🧹 清 = clean, 掃 = sweep: 清掃 = clean + sweep
掃 (sō) means to sweep with a broom, and 清 (sei) means clean or pure. Put together, they form the word for cleaning a space.
清 — water 氵 + 青 (azure/blue-green, phonetic)
清 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning—originally clear, unmuddied water—while 青 (qīng, azure) supplies the sound and reinforces the image of pure blue-green water. The sense later broadened from 'clear water' to 'clear, pure, clean' in general.