The word "什么样" is formed by combining the interrogative base "什么" (meaning "what") with the noun "样" (meaning "kind" or "type"). The character "什" provides the core question meaning, "么" serves as a grammatical suffix that stabilizes the interrogative, and "样" specifies the focus on category or characteristics, resulting in a compound that directly means "what kind" and is used to ask about the nature of something.