六十亿 (liù shí yì) — 6 billion; six hundred million (Chinese numbering system)

Definition

In modern Chinese 六十亿 means '6 billion'. It can also be read as 'six hundred million' under the older 万-based grouping (六百兆 / 六万万), which is why older translations still call it 'six hundred million'.

numeral
6 billionsix hundred million (Chinese numbering system)

Examples

  • 六十亿。
    Zhōng guó yǒu chāo guò liù shí yì rén kǒu.
    China has over six hundred million people.
  • 六十亿。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù zǒng tóu zī liù shí yì měi yuán.
    The total investment in this project is six billion US dollars.
  • 六十亿。
    liù shí yì Shì gè hěn dà de shù zì.
    Six billion is a very large number.

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.

六十sixty
六liùsix十shíten
偏正Modifier + head
亿yìhundred million

六十 gives the count and 亿 the hundred-million unit, so the number is six billion.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 六 may come from a simple drawing of a shed, or from an ancient counting mark.

Open 六 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 億; 亿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
意
意yì億yì
Same sound today

The traditional form 億 pairs 人 (person) with 意 for its sound; the simplified 亿 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 亿 →

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