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内地 (nèi dì) — inland area, interior (as opposed to coastal regions); mainland China (as opposed to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan)

Definition

内地 can mean 'inland/interior' (vs. coastal regions) or, from a HK/Macau/Taiwan viewpoint, 'mainland China'. 大陆 is more common in that political sense; 内部 / 里面 are purely spatial 'inside'.

noun
inland areainterior (as opposed to coastal regions)mainland China (as opposed to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan)

Examples

  • 内地。
    Hěn duō xiāng gǎng rén xuǎn zé dào nèi dì gōng zuò.
    Many Hong Kong people choose to work in mainland China.
  • 内地。
    nèi dì De jīng jì fā zhǎn bǐ yán hǎi dì qū màn yì xiē.
    The economic development of inland areas is a bit slower than that of coastal regions.
  • 内地。
    Xiàn zài nèi dì de jiāo tōng yuè lái yuè fāng biàn le.
    Now transportation in the inland is becoming more and more convenient.

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.

内nèiinside
地dìland

"内" means inside and "地" means land, giving the idea of land set back from the coast.

Characters in this word

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

  • 入入rùto enter
  • 冂冂jiōnghouse

The shape shows 入 entering into 冂, a house, so it pictures bringing something indoors, giving the sense inside.

Open 内 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě地dì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

地 is built from 土 (earth) and 也, which gives its sound.

Open 地 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9China — PlacesGeography & Landforms

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.