The word 清晨 (qīngchén), meaning "early morning", is a compound formed by combining two semantically related characters: 清 (qīng), which conveys notions of clarity, purity, and quietness, and 晨 (chén), which specifically means "morning" or "dawn". Together, they create a nuanced concept where 清 acts as a modifier describing the quality of the 晨, thus specifying not just any morning, but the fresh, tranquil, and clear period at the break of day. This formation follows a common Chinese morphological pattern where an adjective-like element modifies a core noun, resulting in a precise and evocative time-specific term.