The word "抄写" is formed by combining the character "抄", meaning to copy, which is composed of the hand radical "扌" indicating manual action and the phonetic component "少" suggesting pronunciation, with the character "写", meaning to write, derived from the simplified form of "寫". Together, they create a compound verb where "抄" conveys the action of copying and "写" specifies the method of writing, resulting in the meaning "to transcribe" or "to copy by writing".