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屋里 (wū lǐ) — inside the room; in the room

Definition

Means 'inside the room' (屋里 = 屋 'house/room' + 里 'inside'). In HSK 7 it pairs with the literary 室内 for 'indoors' and contrasts with 屋外 'outside the room'.

noun
inside the roomin the room

Examples

  • 屋里。
    Tā zuò zài wū lǐ kàn shū.
    He sat in the room reading.
  • 屋里，。
    wū lǐ Hěn nuǎn huo, wǒ men bù xiǎng chū qù.
    The room is very warm; we don't want to go out.
  • 屋里。
    Māo zài wū lǐ shuì jiào.
    The cat is sleeping in the room.

Origin

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
室室shìroom
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡉉
𡉉𡉉屋wū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

屋 comes from 室, meaning room, with 𡉉 for sound; its upper part later changed into an unrelated shape.

Open 屋 →

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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