The word 分析 is formed by combining two pictographic characters that each contribute a layer of meaning to create a single concept. The first character, 分, depicts a knife dividing something into parts. The second, 析, shows an axe splitting wood apart. Together, they form a powerful compound ideograph where the action of dividing (分) is coupled with the action of splitting open or prying apart (析), visually and conceptually merging to convey the process of breaking a complex whole into its constituent elements for detailed examination, that is, to analyze.