The word "请问" is formed through the semantic combination of its two constituent characters. The first character, "请" (qǐng), carries the core meaning of "to request" or "to invite". The second character, "问" (wèn), means "to ask" or "to inquire". When combined, they create a compound where the action of "asking" is semantically modified by the notion of "requesting", resulting in a unified concept that politely prefaces a question, literally conveying the sense of "I request to ask"... or "May I ask".... This formation is a direct fusion of meaning, where one character sets a courteous frame for the action denoted by the other.