The word "银牌" is formed by combining the character 银, meaning "silver", which historically incorporates a metal radical for category and a phonetic component for sound, with the character 牌, meaning "plate" or "tablet", which similarly uses a radical for wood or signs and a phonetic element; together they function as a compound noun where 银 denotes the material and 牌 denotes the object, resulting in the meaning "silver medal".