野生
やせい · yasei · JLPT N1 · na-adj
wild
🐺 野 = field + 生 = life: life growing out in the open field, so wild
野 means open country or wilderness, and 生 means life or growing. Together they name life that grows untamed outside the fences of farms and towns.
野 — 里 (village) + 予 (phonetic)
Originally written 埜 (forest 林 over earth 土), depicting wild land beyond cultivated fields. The modern form 野 combines 里 (village/settled land) with 予 as a phonetic component, keeping the meaning of open country, wilderness, or untamed.
生 — sprout 屮 above earth 土
Originally a pictograph showing a young plant sprouting from the ground, with 屮 (a sprout) above 土 (earth). The core meaning is 'to be born, to grow, to live,' which extends to 'raw, unripe, unfamiliar.' The modern form has simplified the sprout shape but preserves the image of new growth emerging from soil.