The word 通讯 is formed by combining two meaningful characters: 通 (tōng), which conveys the idea of "connecting", "communicating", or "passing through", and 讯 (xùn), which means "message", "news", or "information". Together, they create a compound where the first character describes the action or method, and the second character specifies the object or purpose, literally meaning "to connect messages". This conceptual fusion directly reflects the word's meaning of "communication", as in the systems and processes for transmitting information from one point to another.