里间 (lǐ jiān) — inner room

Definition

noun
inner room
Measure word · 间

Examples

  • 里间。
    Zhè ge fáng zi de lǐ jiān hěn dà.
    The inner room of this house is very big.
  • 里间。
    Tā zhù zài lǐ jiān.
    He lives in the inner room.
  • 里间。
    Qǐng bǎ dōng xī fàng zài lǐ jiān.
    Please put the things in the inner room.

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.

里lǐinside
间jiānroom

里 means inside and 间 means room, so this is the inner room.

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 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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 间 →

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