情け
なさけ · nasake · JLPT N1 · noun
compassion
情 = heart or feeling; 情け = that feeling shown to someone in need, i.e. sympathy
Read as nasake, the word joins 情 (heart, feeling) with the native sense of kindness given to another person. Sympathy is that heartfelt feeling turned outward.
情 — heart radical 忄 + 青 (qīng)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 忄 signals that the meaning involves feelings or inner states, while 青 supplies the sound 'qing'. Originally referring to genuine feelings or emotion arising from the heart, 情 expanded to cover sentiment, affection, and circumstances or situations more broadly.