The Chinese word "什么" (shénme), meaning "what", is formed through the historical fusion and phonetic evolution of two components: "什" (shén) and "么" (me). Originally, "什" served a phonetic role, likely deriving from an older interrogative form, while "么" functioned as a nominal suffix denoting "a small thing" or "entity". Over time, these two characters were combined into a single, inseparable disyllabic unit, where the original individual meanings became largely opaque, creating a new fixed interrogative pronoun through lexicalization. This process exemplifies how modern Chinese often forms words by blending classical elements into new compounds.