新しい
あたらしい · atarashii · JLPT N5 · i-adj
new
🆕 Sounds like a tar-ashy: fresh tar on a NEW road, still ashy-black
Etymology: the old form was aratashii, from arata (fresh, renewed); the sounds later swapped to atarashii. The kanji 新 also reads shin, as in shinkansen = new trunk line.
新 — 立 stand + 木 tree + 斤 axe
Originally depicted cutting fresh wood with an axe (斤) from a tree (木), with 辛/立 as the phonetic component. The original meaning of 'firewood' was later written as 薪, while 新 took on the extended sense of 'new' or 'fresh'.