市内 (shì nèi) — within the city; in the city (as opposed to sub… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

within the cityin the city (as opposed to suburbs)

Examples

市内。
shì nèi Yǒu hěn duō gōng yuán hé shāng chǎng.
There are many parks and shopping malls in the city.
市内。
Zhè liàng gōng jiāo zhī zǒu shì nèi xiàn lù.
This bus only runs on inner-city routes.
市内。
shì nèi Diàn huà bǐ cháng tú diàn huà pián yi.
Local calls are cheaper than long-distance calls.

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.

市 gives city and 内 gives inside, so the word means within the city.

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

兮兮xībustling

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

之zhī市shì

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

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.

Appears in

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