The word 同情 is formed by combining two characters: 同 (tóng), meaning "same" or "together", and 情 (qíng), meaning "feeling" or "emotion". It is constructed conceptually by placing these ideas side-by-side to create a new, unified meaning. The compound visually and notionally conveys the idea of "same feeling", that is, the act of sharing or understanding another person's emotional state, as if your feelings are aligned with theirs. This formation reflects a classical pattern of creating abstract terms by fusing simpler, concrete pictographic ideas to express a complex human experience.