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历时 (lì shí) — to last, to take (a period of time); (adjective) diachronic; relating to historical development (especially in linguistics)

Definition

历时 focuses on how much time something took (历时三年 = 'lasted/took three years'). Less general than 持续 ('continue/persist') and more neutral than 续航 (battery/range only).

verb
to lastto take (a period of time)
adjective
diachronicrelating to historical development (especially in linguistics)

Examples

  • 历时。
    Zhè xiàng gōng chéng lì shí sān nián cái wán chéng.
    This project took three years to complete.
  • 历时。
    Bǐ sài lì shí le zhěng zhěng wǔ gè xiǎo shí.
    The competition lasted a full five hours.
  • 历时。
    lì shí Yǔ yán xué shì yán jiū yǔ yán yǎn biàn de xué kē.
    Diachronic linguistics is the study of language change.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

历lìpass through
时shítime

历 as pass through and 时 as time combine to mean last over a period.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 歷; 历 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 历 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (简历, 经历) it is 歷; in others (日历) it is 曆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
厤
厤lì歷lì
Same sound today

The form 歷 pairs 止 with the sound part 厤.

Open 历 →

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 時; 时 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rìsun; day
Sound part声符shēngfú
之
之zhī時shí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 時 pairs 日 (sun/day) with 之 as the part that gives the sound; the simplified 时 is not the form described.

Open 时 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Frequency & Duration

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