借金
しゃっきん · shakkin · JLPT N3 · noun
debt
💸 借金 = borrow (借) + money (金): borrowed money is debt
借 (shaku) means borrow, as in 借りる (kariru). 金 (kin) means money or gold. Shaku + kin contracts to shakkin with a doubled k. Sound hook: a shack-kin, the relative living in a shack because of debt.
借 — person radical 亻 + 昔 (formerly)
借 combines the person radical 亻 with 昔, which provides the sound and originally meant 'former times.' The character depicts a person engaging in an act tied to time — borrowing or lending something with the expectation of return. Today it means 'to borrow' or 'to lend.'
金 — roof 亼 + two dots (metal nuggets) + earth 土
Originally a pictograph of metal nuggets buried in the earth beneath a covering, with the two dots representing pieces of ore. It first meant 'metal' broadly, then narrowed to 'gold' as the most precious metal, and by extension 'money'.