The Chinese word **字幕** (zìmù), meaning "subtitles" or "captions," is a compound noun formed through semantic combination: the first character **字** (zì) means "character" or "text," and the second character **幕** (mù) originally means "curtain" or "screen." When combined, they create the literal concept of "text on a screen," which perfectly describes the function of subtitles—textual dialogue or narration displayed over the visual footage of a film, video, or presentation.