The Chinese word **争端 (zhēngduān)**, meaning "dispute" or "conflict," is a compound noun formed through the combination of two meaningful characters: **争 (zhēng)**, which means "to strive," "to contend," or "to dispute," conveys the core notion of conflict or competition; and **端 (duān)**, which originally means "end," "extremity," or "point," here metaphorically extends to signify an "issue" or "point of contention." Together, they form a **modifier-head** or **coordinative compound** where the two elements are closely related, essentially meaning "a point of dispute" or "the ends of a contention," synthetically creating the abstract concept of a formal disagreement or conflict between parties.