発芽

はつが · hatsuga · JLPT N1 · noun

germination

芽 — grass radical 艹 + tooth 牙 (phonetic)
芽 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The grass radical 艹 on top signals plants, while 牙 ('tooth') below provides the sound 'ya'. The original sense is the tender sprout or shoot pushing up from a seed, like a small tooth emerging from the soil.

More Japanese words · How Japanese works