The word **斧子 (fǔzi)**, meaning "axe" or "hatchet," is formed through a classic Chinese morphological process where the core, pictographic root character **斧** (fǔ), which historically depicted an axe-shaped tool, is combined with the nominal suffix **子 (zi)**; this suffix, which often signifies a concrete, everyday tool or object, does not change the core meaning but softens the pronunciation and makes the term more colloquial and familiar in modern Mandarin usage.