被害
ひがい · higai · JLPT N3 · noun
damage
🏚️ 被害 = suffer + harm: damage you take, not damage you do
被 (hi) marks something done to you, as in 被る (to suffer). 害 (gai) means harm, as in 有害 (harmful). Together they mean harm received, so 被害者 (higaisha) is a victim.
被 — clothes radical 衤 + 皮 (skin/hide)
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: 衤 (clothing) gives the meaning 'blanket/quilt', while 皮 supplies the sound. From 'covering' it extended to 'cover oneself with', then grammaticalized into the passive marker 'by', its most common modern use.
害 — 宀 roof + 丯 (phonetic) + 口 mouth
Originally an ideograph showing harm spoken under a roof, with 宀 (roof/house) on top, a phonetic element 丯 in the middle, and 口 (mouth) below suggesting harmful speech. Over time it shifted from 'injury caused by words' to the broader senses of 'harm,' 'injure,' and 'fear.'