負担
ふたん · futan · JLPT N1 · noun
burden
🎒 負 (bear, carry) + 担 (shoulder, bear): a load carried on the shoulders, like a heavy pack
負 means to bear or owe, and 担 means to shoulder or take on. Together they give 負担, a burden you carry, as in 'ふたんが重い' (the load is heavy).
担 — hand radical 扌 + 詹 (zhān, phonetic)
担 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 扌 (hand) gives the meaning of carrying or shouldering, while 詹 supplies the sound. Originally written 擔, it depicted bearing a load on a shoulder pole; 担 is the simplified form. Meanings extended from physical carrying to bearing responsibility.