The word "悲哀" (bēi'āi), meaning sorrow, is formed by combining two characters: "悲" uses the semantic component "心" (heart) to denote emotion and the phonetic component "非" for sound, indicating sadness, while "哀" incorporates "衣" (clothing) and "口" (mouth) to depict mourning or grief. Together, these characters create a compound where each contributes a similar meaning of emotional distress, resulting in the word's overall sense of deep sadness.