童年
tóngnián · HSK 4
childhood
👶 童 = child + 年 = year; child-years = childhood
童 means child and 年 means year, so 童年 literally reads as child-years — the years when one is a child. The compound is transparent once you know each character.
年 — grain 禾 over person 人 (oracle bone)
Originally a pictograph of a person carrying a bundle of harvested grain on their back, representing the yearly grain harvest. Because harvests came once a year, the character shifted from meaning 'harvest' to meaning 'year.' The modern form 年 obscures the original 禾 (grain) + 人 (person) structure.