The Chinese word **溺水 (nìshuǐ)**, meaning "to drown," is a verb formed through the logical combination of two characters: **溺 (nì)**, which means "to drown" or "to be addicted to," but in this context carries the specific sense of "to sink or submerge," and **水 (shuǐ)**, which means "water." Together, they create a verb-object compound where **溺** acts as the action and **水** is the object of that action, thus literally meaning "to be submerged in water." This formation is semantically transparent, as the meaning directly arises from the sum of its parts, following a common pattern in Chinese where an action is paired with its key element or location.