The character 哭 depicts a person (the component 吅, representing two mouths, originally an exaggerated face) with tears (the dots in 犬, which here symbolizes flowing drops), visually capturing the act of wailing or loud sobbing. The character 泣 combines water (氵) with the character 立 (to stand), poetically evoking the image of tears standing in the eyes or streaming down the face, representing silent weeping or tears flowing. When combined into the word 哭泣, the two characters are placed side-by-side, creating a single concept through this dual imagery; the first character (哭) emphasizes the vocal and forceful aspect of crying, while the second (泣) emphasizes the fluid and quiet aspect, together forming a complete and intensified pictorial representation of the act of weeping.