生病
shēngbìng · HSK 1
fall ill
🤒 生病 = 生 (get/produce) + 病 (illness) — to produce illness, i.e. fall ill
生 means to be born or produce; 病 is illness (the 疒 radical is a sickbed). Together: produce illness = get sick. Compare 看病 (see + illness = see a doctor).
生 — sprout 屮 above earth 土
Originally a pictograph showing a young plant sprouting from the ground, with 屮 (a sprout) above 土 (earth). The core meaning is 'to be born, to grow, to live,' which extends to 'raw, unripe, unfamiliar.' The modern form has simplified the sprout shape but preserves the image of new growth emerging from soil.
病 — sickness radical 疒 + 丙 (bǐng, phonetic)
病 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The radical 疒 depicts a person lying on a bed and signals illness or ailment. The component 丙 supplies the sound (bǐng → bìng). Originally 病 referred to a serious illness, contrasted with 疾 for a lighter ailment; today it broadly means 'sick' or 'disease.'