感謝

かんしゃ · kansha · JLPT N3 · noun

thanks

💐 感 feel + 謝 thank = thanks you feel deeply, i.e. gratitude

感 (kan) means feeling or emotion, as in 感情 kanjō, feelings. 謝 (sha) means to thank or apologise, as in 謝罪 shazai, apology. Put together, they mean thanks that come from real feeling. Kansha is heartfelt gratitude, not a quick thank-you.

感 — heart 心 + 咸 (xián, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 心 at the bottom carries the meaning of feeling or emotion, while 咸 supplies the sound. Together 感 conveys being moved in the heart, hence 'to feel,' 'sense,' or 'be affected by' something.

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