The Chinese word **时段 (shíduàn)**, meaning "time period" or "time slot," is a **compound word formed by combining two meaningful characters (morphemes)**: **时 (shí)**, which means "time" or "hour," and **段 (duàn)**, which means "segment," "section," or "period." It follows a common **modifier-head structure** in Chinese morphology, where the first character **时** specifies the category (time) and the second character **段** acts as the core noun, indicating a division or segment within that category; thus, the compound logically means "a segment of time." This formation is analogous to how many English compound nouns like "timeframe" or "daytime" are constructed from simpler, independent words.