三味線
しゃみせん · shamisen · JLPT N1 · noun
guitar
🪕 三 three + 味 tone + 線 string: a three-string instrument
三 (san, three) and 線 (sen, string) are clear. 味 here means tone, not flavour. It derives from China's sanxian (三弦), which also has three strings. In this compound the reading shifts from san to sha.
三 — three horizontal strokes 一 + 一 + 一
三 is a pictographic numeral: three stacked horizontal lines representing the number three, parallel to 一 (one) and 二 (two). The form has been stable since oracle bone script. It carries no phonetic component; the meaning 'three' is direct and visual.