会う
あう · au · JLPT N5 · verb-godan
to meet
🤝 au sounds like ow — you meet a friend and bump heads: ow!
会 is the kanji for meeting or gathering, also seen in 会社 (company) and 会議 (meeting). The う ending marks it as a verb. Say a-u quickly and it lands close to ow, the yelp of two people meeting a bit too fast.
会 — 人 person on top + 云 cloud/say below (simplified from 會)
The traditional form 會 showed a lid over a vessel with contents stacked inside, depicting things coming together — hence 'meet, gather, assemble.' From 'gathering' it extended to 'meeting,' then 'understand' (minds meeting) and 'be able to.' The simplified 会 keeps only a schematic top and bottom.