The word 例子 (lìzi), meaning "example", is formed through a straightforward morphological process. It combines the core character 例 (lì), which independently carries the meaning of "example", "case", or "precedent", with the extremely common and semantically light suffix 子 (zi). This suffix 子 does not add its literal meaning of "child" here but instead functions grammatically to nominalize and solidify the preceding character, turning the abstract concept of "例" into a standard, concrete noun. Thus, the formation is essentially: a meaningful root + a structural, noun-forming particle.