心配
しんぱいする · shinpaisuru · JLPT N4 · noun
concern
💓 心配 = heart + distribute: your heart gets handed out to every problem
心 (shin) means heart or mind; 配 (pai, from hai) means to distribute or deliver, as in 配達 delivery. Worry is your heart being dealt out in all directions. Add する to make the verb: 心配する, to worry.
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.
配 — wine vessel 酉 + self 己
Originally depicted a person 己 beside a wine jar 酉, suggesting matching or distributing wine at ceremonies. From this came the meaning 'to pair, match, distribute,' and later 'to deserve' or 'to mix/compound.' The 酉 component gives the wine-related semantic root, while 己 contributes phonetically.