The word 想法 is formed by combining the character 想 (xiǎng), which means "to think" or "a thought", with the character 法 (fǎ), which in this context means "way" or "method". It conceptually fuses the act or product of thinking with a sense of structure or approach, resulting in a meaning that captures a "thought" that has taken shape, an "idea", "opinion", or "way of thinking". The formation is a direct conceptual merger where one modifies the other, creating a new, unified notion from two independent concepts.