今年
ことし · kotoshi · JLPT N5 · noun
year
📅 今年 = now (今) + year (年); read kotoshi: ko (this) + toshi (year)
The kanji spell now + year. The reading is native Japanese: ko is the same this-root found in kono and kore, and toshi is the native word for year. So kotoshi is literally this-year, an irregular reading attached to the pair as a whole.
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.