The Chinese word **文凭 (wénpíng)** is formed through the logical compounding of two individual characters: **文 (wén)**, which originally means "writing," "language," or "culture," and **凭 (píng)**, which means "evidence," "proof," or "to rely on." When combined, they create a new semantic unit where 文 signifies the documented knowledge or academic content, and 凭 indicates the official document that serves as certification or proof. Thus, 文凭 literally means "cultural proof" or "documentary evidence," evolving into its modern meaning of a **diploma** or **degree certificate**—a formal document that attests to one's educational achievements. This formation exemplifies a common pattern in Chinese where two meaningful morphemes are joined to precisely denote an abstract concept.