病
bìng · HSK 1
illness
🤒 病 = 疒 (sickness radical) + 丙 (bǐng, phonetic)
The 疒 radical marks illness words (a person on a bed); 丙 gives the sound bǐng → bìng. Sounds like 'bing' as in a sick 'bing' — the body rings out a warning.
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.'
bìng · HSK 2
sick
🤒 病 = 疒 (sickness radical) + 丙 (bǐng, phonetic)
The 疒 radical (a person on a bed) marks illness-related characters. 丙 (bǐng) supplies the sound, which shifted to bìng. Same radical appears in 疼 (pain) and 疯 (crazy).
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.'