The Chinese word 人命 (rénmìng), meaning "human life" in terms of its existence or value, is a compound noun formed through semantic combination. It directly joins the character 人 (rén), meaning "person" or "human", with the character 命 (mìng), which carries the core meanings of "life", "fate", or "destiny". The formation is logical and endocentric: the first element 人 specifies the type of "life" or "fate" being referred to, creating a new, more specific concept that is a hyponym of the second element. Thus, 命 is the head of the compound, and 人 modifies it, resulting in the meaning "human life" as a precious entity or a matter of mortal consequence.