The Chinese word 通宵 (tōngxiāo), meaning "all night" or "through the night", is a compound formed by combining the character 通 (tōng), which conveys the idea of "through", "throughout", or "unobstructed passage", with 宵 (xiāo), which specifically means "night" or "evening". Together, they create a logical semantic unit where 通 modifies 宵 to express the concept of "passing through the entirety of the night", effectively denoting an action or state that lasts from one evening until the following morning. This formation is typical of modern Chinese vocabulary, where two meaningful characters are joined to precisely express a compound idea that is immediately understandable from the sum of its parts.