The word "惊涛" is formed by combining the character "惊", meaning to shock or frighten, which is constructed from the semantic radical "忄" (indicating emotion) and the phonetic component "京", with the character "涛", meaning large waves, constructed from the semantic radical "氵" (indicating water) and the phonetic component "寿"; in this compound, "惊" modifies "涛" to convey the meaning of frightening or terrifying waves.