The word 除非 is formed through a logical and conceptual fusion of its two constituent characters: 除, which carries the core idea of "excluding" or "making an exception", and 非, which fundamentally means "not" or "to be not". The compound’s formation does not simply combine meanings additively but rather constructs a unique conditional logic; it first establishes a given fact or condition (with 除 marking it as the sole, excluded case) and then, via 非, introduces a negation or reversal that is dependent upon that very exception. Thus, the term is built on a framework of exceptional negation, where one idea is presented as the only thing that, if removed or negated, would prevent or enable the opposite outcome.