感性
gǎnxìng · HSK 7
sensitive
💖 感 (feel) + 性 (nature) = feeling-nature, i.e. sensitive
感 carries the heart radical 心 underneath, marking emotion; 性 pairs 忄(heart) with 生 (born), meaning innate disposition. Together: a person whose inborn nature is to feel deeply.
感 — heart 心 + 咸 (xián, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 心 at the bottom carries the meaning of feeling or emotion, while 咸 supplies the sound. Together 感 conveys being moved in the heart, hence 'to feel,' 'sense,' or 'be affected by' something.
性 — heart radical 忄 + 生 (life/birth)
性 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 supplies the meaning, pointing to inner feelings or innate qualities, while 生 ('birth, life') gives the sound and hints at what one is born with. It originally meant 'inborn nature' and later extended to 'character,' 'gender,' and 'sex.'