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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

裡

lǐ
in; inside
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 2
  • radical 衣
  • 13 strokes

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Origin

The character 裡 is a phono-semantic compound. It consists of the semantic component 衤, meaning “clothes,” and the phonetic component 里. This character is an unorthodox form of 裏. Its oldest attested scripts include bronze, chu, qin, seal, and regular scripts.

As a semantic component, 衤 relates to garments or clothing. The phonetic component 里 is composed of 田 (farmland) and 土 (earth; soil). In terms of meaning, 裡 can refer to the inner lining of clothes, the interior of a certain range in opposition to “outside,” a specific spatial area, or a specific period of time.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「裡」字由意義成分「衤」（衣）與音符「里」組成。在構成音符的「里」中，包含了「田」（農田）與「土」（土地）這兩個組成部分。根據上古音重建，此字的音符部分重建為 *rɯʔ。

此字在文字發展史上，最早見於青銅器、楚系文字、秦系文字，隨後也見於篆書與楷書。其核心意義涵蓋了空間、時間以及衣物內層的範疇。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • meaningChinese衣 “garment; clothes; clothing (Classifier: 件)”
  • soundChinese里 “li (a unit of distance equal to half a kilometre in modern Mainland China)”
    • ideaChinese田 “farmland (Classifier: 塊／块 m c)”
    • ideaChinese土 “earth; soil”

Words built on it: 這裡, 哪裡, 那裡, 裡面

Wiktionary etymology text

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *rɯʔ): semantic 衤 (“clothes”) + phonetic 里 (OC *rɯʔ), unorthodox form of 裏.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. in; inside
  2. during; within
  3. Indicates a place.
  4. interior; inside
  5. lining

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 衣服內層的襯布。 例：襯裡、內裡
  2. 某一定範圍的內部。與「外」相對。 例：裡面、裡頭、裡應外合
  3. 指一定的空間範圍。 例：這裡、那裡
  4. 指一定的時間範圍。 例：夜裡、暑假裡

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 裡 was written 字形演變

  1. 裡 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  2. 裡 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  3. 裡 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  4. 裡 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 裡 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 裡