Example sentences
wǒ我huàn换le了xīn新shǒu手jī机。
I got a new phone.
xīn新lái来de的tóng同shì事hěn很hǎo好。
The new colleague is nice.
The story behind the character
新
新 is 斤, an axe, on the right, with 亲 carrying the sound on the left. Xu Shen defined it 新, 取木也: to take wood, to cut firewood. Nobody writes 新 for chopping anymore. The meaning new came in early by borrowing and took the whole character over. The axe is still in there, sounding like 心.