The word **碟子 (diézi)**, meaning "plate" or "small dish," is formed through a common Chinese morphological process where the core semantic morpheme **碟 (dié)**, which carries the specific meaning of a flat, dish-like object, is combined with the suffix **子 (zi)**, a nominalizer that frequently attaches to nouns to form a concrete, everyday object, often adding a colloquial or diminutive nuance. This construction follows the standard pattern of **root + suffix**, creating a disyllabic word that is phonetically balanced and typical for naming common household items.