The Chinese word 原料 (yuánliào), meaning "raw material", is a modifier-head compound formed by combining two meaningful characters: 原 (yuán), which conveys the sense of "original", "source", or "primary", with 料 (liào), which means "material" or "stuff". In this structure, the first character 原 acts as an adjective to modify and specify the type of 料, logically resulting in the concept of "original/source material", the basic substances from which things are made. This formation is semantically transparent and typical of how Chinese creates precise, compound nouns.