The word "感叹号" is formed by combining three characters: 感, meaning "feel"; 叹, meaning "sigh" or "exclaim"; and 号, meaning "mark" or "symbol". The combination 感 and 叹 creates 感叹, which denotes the act of exclaiming or expressing strong emotion. Adding 号 specifies that it is a written symbol, thus 感叹号 directly translates to "exclamation mark" as a punctuation sign.