The Chinese word 肉饼 (ròubǐng), meaning "meat pie" or "patty," is formed through a straightforward compound word structure in Mandarin, where two independent characters are combined to create a new, specific meaning. The first character, 肉 (ròu), means "meat" or "flesh," and acts as a modifier or descriptor. The second character, 饼 (bǐng), originally refers to a round, flat baked food item like a "pancake" or "flatbread." When combined in this modifier-head construction, 肉 specifies the primary ingredient, and 饼 defines the form or category of the food, resulting in the precise concept of a flat, cake-like food made primarily of meat.