同情
どうじょう · doujou · JLPT N1 · noun
sympathy
同情 = 同 (same) + 情 (feeling): sharing the same feeling as someone else
同 means same and 情 means feeling, so sympathy is feeling the same as another person. Say dou-jou, like 'do you' followed by 'Joe': do you feel what Joe feels?
同 — 冂 enclosure + 一 + 口 mouth
Originally depicted multiple mouths gathered under one cover or enclosure, suggesting people speaking together in agreement. From this image of voices joining, it came to mean 'same,' 'together,' or 'alike.' The shared cover symbolizes unity.
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.