引き起こす
ひきおこす · hikiokosu · JLPT N1 · verb-godan
to cause
🪝 引き (pull) + 起こす (raise, set in motion) = pull something into motion: to cause
引く means pull and 起こす means raise or wake, as in 起きる. Together they describe pulling something into motion, which is exactly what causing does.
引 — bow 弓 + vertical stroke 丨
A compound ideograph showing a bow 弓 with a vertical line 丨 representing the drawn bowstring. The original meaning was 'to draw a bow,' which extended to 'pull,' 'lead,' 'guide,' and 'cite.' The vertical stroke depicts the action of pulling the string back.
起 — 走 (run) + 己 (self/phonetic)
起 combines 走 'run/walk' as the meaning component with 己 as the phonetic component. The 走 element suggests movement of the body, giving the core sense of rising up or starting to move. From there it extended to meanings like 'get up,' 'begin,' and 'arise.'