自我
じが · jiga · JLPT N1 · noun
self
自 (oneself) + 我 (I, me) = 自我: 'self' plus 'I' gives the ego, your sense of self
Both characters are about the self: 自 means 'oneself' and 我 means 'I' or 'me'. Put together they name the ego or self-identity. Hook: self + me = 自我.
自 — pictograph of a nose
自 originally depicted a human nose, shown frontally with the bridge and nostrils. Ancient Chinese pointed to their own nose to mean 'me,' so 自 shifted to mean 'self' or 'oneself.' A new character 鼻 was later created to carry the original 'nose' meaning.
我 — hand 手 (扌) + dagger-axe 戈
Originally a pictograph of a serrated weapon or polearm, used in oracle bone script. It was borrowed phonetically to write the first-person pronoun 'I/me,' and that meaning eventually replaced the original sense of the weapon.