The Chinese word 起誓 (qǐshì), meaning "to swear an oath" or "to vow", is a compound verb formed through the combination of two meaningful characters: 起 (qǐ), which conveys the sense of "to rise", "to initiate", or "to begin an action", and 誓 (shì), which means "oath" or "pledge". In this construction, 起 acts as a verb complement that indicates the act of bringing something into being or setting it into motion, while 誓 serves as the semantic core, specifying what is being initiated, namely, a solemn promise. Thus, the word literally and logically represents the act of "raising/initiating an oath", where the two components combine their meanings to create a specific and concrete action. This pattern of combining an action-oriented character with a noun object is a common and productive method for forming verbs in Chinese.