The word "据说" is formed by combining two individual characters: "据" (jù), which carries the core meaning of "to rely on" or "according to", and "说" (shuō), which means "to say" or "speech". Their combination is a conceptual fusion where "据" provides the framework of attribution or source, and "说" supplies the content of that spoken information, creating a single unit that literally and conceptually means "according to what is said". This formation follows a common pattern in Chinese where two meaningful components are joined to create a new, fixed expression with a specific, integrated meaning.