黎 (lí) — (bound form) black; dark; (surname) Li
Definition
In modern Chinese 黎 is mainly a bound morpheme: it appears as a surname (黎先生 = Mr. Li) and in 黎族, the Li ethnic group. The old sense of 'black; dark' is essentially historical — 黎明 'dawn' is the only common surviving use.
bound form
blackdark(surname) Li
Easily confused
- 离lísound-aliketo leave; to part from
- 丽lísound-alikebeautiful (bound form, used in compounds)
- 梨lísound-alikepear
- 厘lísound-alike(measure word) 0.1% or one-thousandth of a unit; used for small fractions, interest rates, or differences
- 犁lísound-alike(noun) plow (farming implement)
- 篱lísound-alikefence, hedge, barrier (bound form)
Examples
- ，。lí Míng shí fēn, tiān jiàn jiàn liàng le.At dawn, the sky gradually brightened.
- 黎。lí Xiān sheng shì wǒ men de zhōng wén lǎo shī.Mr. Li is our Chinese teacher.
- 黎。lí Zú shì zhōng guó de yí gè shǎo shù mín zú.The Li ethnic group is a minority in China.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
黎 pairs 黍, meaning millet, with 利 as its sound part; here the 黍 part is shortened.
Appears in
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