The word 街巷 is formed by combining the characters 街, meaning "street", and 巷, meaning "alley". 街 is a compound character composed of the radical 行, which relates to roads or movement, and 圭, primarily indicating pronunciation. 巷 consists of 共, which may contribute meaning, and 巳, used for sound. Together, these characters create a compound word that broadly refers to streets and alleys, encompassing various types of urban thoroughfares.