华里 (huá lǐ) — (measure word) Chinese mile, equal to 500 meters or about 0.31 miles

Definition

Traditional Chinese unit of distance equal to 500 meters (about 0.31 miles), still seen in historical and folk usage. Modern Chinese uses 公里 (kilometer) instead.

classifier
Chinese mile, equal to 500 meters or about 0.31 miles

Examples

  • 华里。
    Cóng zhè r dào xiàn chéng hái yǒu èr shí huá lǐ.
    From here to the county town is still 20 li.
  • 华里。
    Tā měi tiān zǒu shí huá lǐ lù duàn liàn shēn tǐ.
    He walks 10 li every day to exercise.
  • 华里。
    Gǔ dài yì huá lǐ dà yuē shì xiàn zài de wǔ bǎi mǐ.
    In ancient times, one li was about 500 meters of today.

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.

华huáChinese
里lǐmile

“华” means Chinese and “里” is the distance unit, giving the Chinese mile.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 華; 华 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 華 showed flowers on a plant, with stalk and leaves below. The simplified 华 is a later shorthand and not the original picture.

Open 华 →

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 裡; 里 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 里 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (里, 里面) it is 裡; in others (公里) it is 里 or 裏.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衤Written in full as衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ裡lǐ
Same sound today

The form 裡 pairs 衤 (clothes) with 里 as a sound component.

Open 里 →

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