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境内 (jìng nèi) — within the borders; internal (to a country, province, city, etc.); domestic

Definition

境内 means 'within the borders' — domestic territory of a country, province, or city. Pairs with the location noun (e.g. 该国境内); for 'domestic/local' on its own, 本土 is closer.

noun
within the bordersinternal (to a country, province, city, etc.)domestic

Examples

  • 境内。
    Suǒ yǒu jìng nèi háng bān dōu yǐ qǔ xiāo.
    All domestic flights have been canceled.
  • 境内。
    Gāi shì jìng nèi de jiāo tōng fēi cháng biàn lì.
    Transportation within the city is very convenient.
  • 境内。
    Zhè ge shěng de jìng nèi shēng chǎn zǒng zhí zēng zhǎng hěn kuài.
    The gross domestic product of this province is growing rapidly.

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.

境jìngborders
内nèiinside

境, the borders, and 内, inside, give 'within the borders'.

Characters in this word

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
竟
竟jìng境jìng
Same sound today

境 pairs 土 (earth) with 竟, which gives the sound; the 土 part carries the meaning.

Open 境 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Geography & LandformsGovernment & Politics

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