表情
ひょうじょう · hyoujou · JLPT N3 · noun
facial expression
🙂 表情 = surface + feelings: the feelings that show on your face
表 (hyou) means surface or to show, as in 表す (arawasu, to express). 情 (jou) means feeling or emotion, as in 感情 (kanjou, emotion). Put together, a 表情 is the emotion that comes to the surface of your face.
表 — fur 毛 on top + garment 衣 below
Originally depicted an outer fur garment, with 毛 (fur) above 衣 (clothing), showing the hairy outside of a coat. From 'outer garment' it extended to mean 'outside, surface,' then 'to show, express, display,' and later 'table, chart' as something laid out on the surface.
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.