或是
huòshì · HSK 5
perhaps
或 = perhaps/or + 是 = is/yes; literally 'perhaps-is' = or/maybe
或 carries the 'or/perhaps' sense and 是 is the copula 'is'. Pairing them gives a softer 'or it is the case that...' — used like 或者 to link alternatives or hedge a guess.
或 — 戈 dagger-axe + 口 mouth/area + 一 boundary line
或 originally depicted a dagger-axe (戈) guarding a bounded territory (口 with 一), meaning 'country' or 'domain' — the ancestor of 國/国. Over time it was borrowed for the abstract sense 'perhaps, maybe, or,' so a new 囗 enclosure was added around it to write the original 'country' meaning.
是 — sun 日 + 正 (correct/upright)
Originally a compound suggesting 'the sun 日 directly overhead'—straight, correct, true. From this concrete sense of 'right' or 'this very thing,' 是 came to mean 'this' as a demonstrative, and later the modern copula 'to be / is.' The 'correct' meaning survives in words like 是非 (right and wrong).