The Chinese word 笑脸 (xiào liǎn), meaning "smiling face", is a straightforward compound formed by combining two independent characters: 笑 (xiào), which means "to smile" or "laughter", and 脸 (liǎn), which means "face". It follows a common modifier-head structure in Chinese word formation, where the first character 笑 acts as a descriptive modifier specifying the type or state, and the second character 脸 serves as the core noun being described. Together, they create a transparent and intuitive concept, a face that is smiling or expresses a smile.