The Chinese word 花瓶 (huāpíng), meaning "vase", is a classic example of a compound word formed through the modification of a noun by another noun. The first character 花 (huā) means "flower", and the second character 瓶 (píng) means "bottle" or "container". Grammatically, 花 acts as a modifier that specifies the purpose or typical content of the 瓶, creating the meaning "a bottle for flowers", or simply "vase". This logical, semantic combination is a standard and highly productive method of word formation in Chinese, where two independent meaningful characters are joined to create a new, transparent concept; the word can also be used metaphorically to describe a person (often a woman) who is decorative but not substantive, extending from its literal function as a beautiful but potentially empty vessel.