新聞
しんぶん · shinbun · JLPT N5 · noun
newspaper
📰 新聞 = new (新) + heard (聞): newly heard things, i.e. the newspaper
新 (shin) means new, as in 新しい. 聞 (bun) means to hear, as in 聞く. Things newly heard are news, and in Japanese the word narrowed to the printed paper that carries it. Note: in Chinese the same characters mean news in general.
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'.