何来 (hé lái) — (literary verb phrase) where does … come from; how can it be that (rhetorical)

Definition

A literary rhetorical phrase meaning 'where does … come from?' or 'how could it possibly be that …?' — always used to challenge or question, never as a neutral question.

verb
(literary verb phrase) where does … come fromhow can it be that (rhetorical)

Examples

  • 何来？
    Cǐ yán hé lái gēn jù?
    Where does this statement get its basis?
  • ，何来？
    Shì yǐ zhì cǐ, hé lái tuì lù?
    Things have come to this — how could there be a way back?
  • 何来？
    Nǐ hé lái zì xìn néng chéng gōng?
    Where does your confidence that you will succeed come from?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

何héwhere
来láicome

何 (where) and 来 (come) together ask where something comes from.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form of 何 drew a person carrying something on their shoulder. If the carried thing was a 戈, the 人 and 戈 parts together showed that picture.

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A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 來; 来 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 來 shows a wheat plant: a central ear, upward leaves, and downward stem and roots. The simplified 来 is a later shorthand.

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