The word "上映" (shàngyìng) is a compound term formed by combining the character "上" (shàng), which here conveys the idea of "going up" or "commencing", with the character "映" (yìng), meaning "to project" or "to reflect (light/images)". Together, they create a verb that specifically means "to show" or "to screen", almost exclusively used for the projection and commencement of a film, play, or similar show in a theater. It exemplifies a common Chinese morphological process where two semantically related characters are joined to produce a precise, new meaning, in this case, the action of beginning a projection for an audience.