The word 好像 is formed by combining two individual characters: 好 (hǎo), which originally means "good" or "proper", and 像 (xiàng), which means "to resemble" or "a likeness". When joined, they create a conceptual blend meaning "a good resemblance" or "properly similar", which evolved into its modern abstract sense of "seems like" or "as if". This formation is a classic example of semantic compounding in Chinese, where the combined literal meanings of the components metaphorically give rise to a new, more figurative meaning.