初耳
はつみみ · hatsumimi · JLPT N1 · noun
time
👂 初 = first, 耳 = ear: the first time your ear catches it
Compound: 初 (first) + 耳 (ear). Sounds like 'hat-sue-mee-mee', so a 'hat' on the first 'me-me' ear. A news item you hear for the first time is 初耳.
初 — clothes radical 衤 + knife 刀
初 combines 衤 (clothes) and 刀 (knife), depicting the act of cutting cloth to begin making a garment. From this concrete image of starting a tailoring task came the extended meaning 'beginning' or 'first'. It is an associative compound, not phonetic.