舷灯

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 舷灯 is read as げんとう and is a noun for a side or navigation light mounted on a vessel to indicate its position and orientation.
• Basic usage: A red light visible at sea appears in 船の赤い舷灯, while different colors on the two sides appear in 舷灯が左右で違う色.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Lights on the vessel's sides
  • These are navigation lights that help identify a vessel's position and sides in darkness, not merely decorative illumination.
• Difference from 船の灯り
  • 船の灯り broadly means lights on a ship, whereas 舷灯 identifies the particular navigation lights mounted at its sides.