分析
ぶんせき · bunseki · JLPT N3 · noun
analysis
🪓🪵 分析 = divide + split apart: break something into parts to study it
分 means divide or part. 析 is 木 (tree) + 斤 (axe), so it originally meant splitting wood. Together they mean taking something apart piece by piece, which is analysis. Verbal hook: bunseki breaks it down bit by bit.
分 — knife 刀 + eight 八 (split apart)
分 originally depicted a knife (刀) cutting something into two parts, shown by 八 above (which itself meant 'divide'). The core sense is 'to divide' or 'split', from which extended meanings like 'portion', 'minute', and 'part' developed. Pronounced fèn, it carries the sense of an allotted share.