The Chinese word 蒸发 (zhēngfā), meaning "to evaporate", is a classic example of a verb-object compound formed through semantic combination. It is composed of two meaningful characters: 蒸 (zhēng), which means "to steam" or denotes steam itself, and 发 (fā), which means "to emit", "to release", or "to send out". When combined, the term literally depicts the process of "emitting steam" or "releasing vapor", which accurately describes the physical phenomenon where a liquid turns into a gas. This formation follows a common pattern in modern Chinese where two existing morphemes are logically joined to create a precise scientific or technical term.