苦情
くじょう · kujou · JLPT N2 · noun
ailment
苦 = bitter + 情 = feeling: a bitter feeling you voice = complaint
苦 means bitter or suffering and 情 means feeling or emotion. The same first kanji appears in 苦労 (hardship), which shares its sense of struggle.
苦 — grass radical 艹 + 古 (old)
Originally referred to a bitter-tasting plant, with the grass radical 艹 indicating its botanical nature and 古 providing the phonetic element. The meaning extended from the literal bitter taste to figurative senses of hardship, suffering, and painful effort.
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.