Yorokobi, ureshii. 喜 / 嬉.

So I've been walking around singing 「時代」 everywhere, and I've just realized that the kanji for ureshii is the same as that for yorokobi, but plus onna-hen. 喜 + 女 = 嬉. What's the difference between happiness and happiness-plus-woman-kanji? Is onna-hen meaningful here? Why does Nakajima choose yorokobi/kanashimi instead of ureshimi/kanashimi?

Kotoba lists four kanji you can use to write yorokobi:

喜び 慶び 歓び 悦び

So presumably よろこび predates the introduction of kanji and that reading was assigned to various kanji that fit the meaning. And maybe that explains the び ending: that's just how it was said at the time. (Or are there many nouns that end in び?)

漢字って、不思議なものですね。

Is ureshimi even a word? It doesn't seem to be, but it should be. Of course, its not being a word would explain Nakajima's not using it.

I need a second copy of the Henshall book to keep at the office.