The word 海岸 is formed by directly combining two independent pictographic characters, each representing a core natural element: 海 (hǎi), meaning "sea" or "ocean", and 岸 (àn), meaning "shore" or "bank". Its formation is conceptually intuitive, creating a compound that visually and logically denotes the specific location where the sea meets the land, the coastline. It is a straightforward semantic fusion where the first character defines the type of body of water, and the second character defines the geographical feature, together painting a complete picture of the transitional zone between ocean and land.