The word 强奸 is formed through the direct semantic combination of its two component characters: 强 (qiáng), meaning "forceful" or "by force", and 奸 (jiān), which denotes an illicit sexual act or violation. The formation is conceptual, not grammatical; it logically compounds the idea of "using force" with the idea of "sexual violation" to create a single, specific term for the criminal act of rape. This method of creating words by merging core meanings is common in Chinese, resulting in a compound whose meaning is starkly apparent from the sum of its parts.