歌
うた · uta · JLPT N5 · noun
song
🎤🎵 uta sounds like utter: you utter a song
Uta is close to the English word utter, and a song is words you utter to a tune. The kanji 歌 has 欠, a person with mouth wide open, next to a doubled 可, which gives the sound. An open mouth letting sound out: a song.
歌 — 哥 (phonetic 'gē') + 欠 (open mouth)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The right side 欠 depicts a person with an open mouth, supplying the meaning of singing or vocalizing. The left side 哥 gives the sound 'gē'. Together they form the verb and noun for 'song' or 'to sing'.