新聞社
しんぶんしゃ · shinbunsha · JLPT N4 · noun
company
📰🏢 新聞社 = new + heard + company: the firm that sells what is newly heard
新 (shin) is new, 聞 (bun) is to hear, so 新聞 is news, literally newly heard things. 社 (sha) is the company suffix, the same one in 会社 (kaisha). Shinbun + sha = the company behind the newspaper.
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'.
社 — 示 (altar/spirit) + 土 (earth)
Originally referred to the god of the soil and the altar where villagers worshipped it. The 示 component signals ritual or spirits, while 土 means earth, together evoking a community shrine. The meaning later broadened to 'community' and 'society'.