The Chinese word 个别 (gèbié) is a compound formed by combining two characters: 个 (gè), meaning "single" or "individual", and 别 (bié), meaning "separate" or "different". Together, they create a concept where the individuality or separation of items is emphasized, leading to the modern meanings of "individual", "specific", "very few", or "exceptional". The formation follows a common logical pattern in Chinese where two semantically related characters are joined to express a more abstract or specific idea, in this case, highlighting something that is distinct or separate from the general whole.