The Chinese word **酷刑 (kùxíng)**, meaning "torture" or "cruel punishment," is a compound noun formed through semantic combination. The first character, **酷 (kù)**, carries the meanings of "cruel," "brutal," or "severe," while the second character, **刑 (xíng)**, fundamentally means "punishment" or "penalty." When combined, the two morphemes create a single, more specific concept where **酷** modifies and intensifies **刑**, resulting in the precise meaning of a punishment characterized by extreme cruelty and physical suffering. This follows a common pattern in Mandarin where an adjective-like morpheme precedes a noun-like morpheme to specify a particular sub-category.