About
The Chinese word **公墓** (gōngmù), meaning "public cemetery," is a compound formed by combining two characters: **公** (gōng), which carries meanings of "public," "communal," or "shared by all," and **墓** (mù), which means "tomb" or "grave." In this morphological construction, **公** functions as a modifier describing the type or ownership of the **墓**, specifying that it is a burial ground open for communal or public use, as opposed to a private family plot. Therefore, the term is formed through semantic compounding, where the sum of the parts clearly and logically denotes the concept of a cemetery accessible to the general populace.