The word 基本 is formed through a conceptual combination of its two component characters. The first character, 基, originally depicts the foundation of a building (earth + its supporting structure), representing a "base" or "foundation". The second character, 本, uses a mark at the bottom of the pictograph for "tree" to indicate the "root" or "origin". When combined, the two layered ideas, the structural base (基) and the essential, originating root (本), merge to form the single abstract concept of that which is "fundamental", "basic", or "essential", creating a meaning greater than the simple sum of its parts.