The word "淅沥" is formed by combining two phonosemantic characters, each containing the water radical (氵) to semantically associate with liquid. The character "淅" incorporates the phonetic component "析" (xī) to suggest part of the sound, while "沥" uses "历" (lì) for its phonetic contribution, together creating an onomatopoeic compound that mimics the sound of light rain or dripping water.