The Chinese word **供应商 (gōngyìngshāng)**, meaning "supplier," is a logical compound formed by combining three distinct characters: **供 (gōng)**, which means "to supply"; **应 (yìng)**, which means "to respond" or "to meet a demand"; and **商 (shāng)**, which means "merchant" or "business entity." The term is constructed through semantic aggregation, where "供" and "应" first combine to form the verb **供应 (gōngyìng)**, meaning "to supply" (literally, "supply and respond"), and this verb then modifies the noun **商 (shāng)**, resulting in the meaning "a commercial entity that performs the action of supplying." Thus, it follows a common Chinese word-formation pattern of [Verb + Object] to create a professional agent noun.