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夏利 (Xià lì) — Xiali (a Chinese car model, originally the Daihatsu Charade)

Definition

Xiali is the name of a specific Chinese car model from the 1980s–90s, based on the Daihatsu Charade. The example shows it as a common taxi of that era, now remembered as an everyday people's car rather than a luxury brand.

noun
Xiali (a Chinese car model, originally the Daihatsu Charade)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 夏利。
    Wǒ xiǎo shí hou jīng cháng zuò Xià lì chū zū chē.
    I often rode in Xiali taxis when I was a child.
  • 夏利。
    Xià lì Chē céng jīng shì zhōng guó zuì chàng xiāo de chē xíng zhī yī.
    Xiali cars were once one of the best-selling models in China.
  • 夏利。
    Bà ba de dì yī liàng chē jiù shì Xià lì.
    Dad's first car was a Xiali.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

夏xià
利lì

夏 and 利 together spell the foreign brand name Xiali (Charade) and do not contribute separate meanings.

Sound-only characters

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 日日rìsun
  • 頁頁yèhead; man

Some scholars connect 夏 to 日 (sun) and 頁 (head; man), reading it as a man under the sun, but this is uncertain.

Open 夏 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

利 combines 禾 (grain) and 刀 (knife), showing a knife used to cut grain.

Open 利 →
Appears in
Vehicles

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