The word "抒情" is formed by combining the character "抒", meaning to express or convey, which incorporates the hand radical "扌" for action and the component "予" implying giving, with the character "情", meaning emotion or feeling, which includes the heart radical "忄" for inner states and the component "青" contributing to its phonetic or semantic value; together, "抒" acts upon "情" to literally mean "to express emotions".