担心
dānxīn · HSK 4
worry
😟 担 = carry/shoulder + 心 = heart; carrying it on your heart
担 means to carry or shoulder a burden, and 心 is heart. Together 担心 literally reads as shouldering something on the heart — the Chinese way of saying you carry a worry around with you.
担 — hand radical 扌 + 詹 (zhān, phonetic)
担 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 扌 (hand) gives the meaning of carrying or shouldering, while 詹 supplies the sound. Originally written 擔, it depicted bearing a load on a shoulder pole; 担 is the simplified form. Meanings extended from physical carrying to bearing responsibility.
心 — pictograph of a heart with chambers and aorta
心 is a pictograph showing a stylized heart, with strokes representing the organ's chambers and the aorta at the top. Originally meaning the physical heart, it broadened to cover mind, feelings, and intentions, since ancient Chinese thought located thinking and emotion in the heart.