The Chinese word **根源** (gēnyuán) is a compound formed by combining two semantically related characters: **根** (gēn), meaning "root" (as of a plant), and **源** (yuán), meaning "source" or "origin" (as of a river). This combination follows a common pattern in Chinese where two synonyms or near-synonyms are paired to create a single, more comprehensive or abstract concept. Individually, each character conveys a sense of foundational origin, but together they strengthen and nuance the idea to mean the **fundamental cause, primary origin, or underlying source** of something, encompassing both the tangible (root) and intangible (source) aspects of an origin.