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海内外 (hǎi nèi wài) — domestic and international; at home and abroad

Definition

Literally 'within and beyond the seas' — a set phrase meaning both inside China and outside it, i.e. domestic and international audiences or markets.

phrase
domestic and internationalat home and abroad

Examples

  • 海内外。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī hǎi nèi wài dōu yǒu yè wù.
    This company has business both at home and abroad.
  • 海内外。
    hǎi nèi wài De guān zhòng dōu xǐ huan zhè yí bù diàn yǐng.
    Audiences at home and abroad all like this movie.
  • 海内外。
    Zhè ge chǎn pǐn zài hǎi nèi wài mài dé hěn hǎo.
    This product sells well at home and abroad.

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.

海hǎisea
内外inside and outside
内nèiinside外wàioutside
联合Coordinate

海 means “sea”, and 内外 means “inside and outside”, giving domestic and abroad.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
每
每měi海hǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Open 海 →

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

  • 入入rùto enter
  • 冂冂jiōnghouse

The shape shows 入 entering into 冂, a house, so it pictures bringing something indoors, giving the sense inside.

Open 内 →

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
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

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