The word "菖蒲" is formed from two characters, each constructed as phono-semantic compounds. The character "菖" combines the radical "艹" indicating plants with the phonetic component "昌" suggesting its pronunciation, while "蒲" similarly uses the plant radical "艹" alongside the phonetic component "浦" for sound. Together, they create a disyllabic term for a specific plant, with both characters contributing semantically through the plant radical and phonetically through their respective components.