The Chinese word **国防 (guófáng)**, meaning "national defense," is a classical compound formed through a straightforward **modifier-head relationship**. The first character, **国 (guó)**, means "country" or "nation," and functions as the modifier. The second character, **防 (fáng)**, means "defense" or "guard," and acts as the semantic head or core. Therefore, the term is parsed as **"country's defense"** or **"defense of the nation,"** where the state (国) specifies the domain and purpose of the defense (防). This logical and efficient compounding is a fundamental method of word formation in Chinese, creating a precise and abstract concept from two concrete monosyllabic morphemes.