The word 麒麟 is formed from two characters, each constructed as a phonetic-semantic compound. The character 麒 combines the radical 鹿, which signifies its category as a deer-like animal, with the phonetic component 其 to suggest its pronunciation. Likewise, 麟 uses the same radical 鹿 for semantic meaning and the component 粦 to indicate its sound, together forming a disyllabic term for the mythical creature.