The word "台词" is formed through a direct and conceptual combination of its two component characters: "台" (tái), meaning "stage" or "platform", and "词" (cí), meaning "words" or "lyrics". It is a compound where the first character sets the specific scene or context, the theatrical stage, and the second character specifies the object or material used within that context, the spoken text. Thus, the term naturally emerges as "stage words", semantically defining the written lines intended to be spoken by an actor during a performance.