Definitions

li (particle) modal final particle
(noun) mile

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character 哩 has a simple phono-semantic structure. The mouth radical 口 on the left indicates it relates to speech or sound. The right side is the phonetic component 里, which provides the pronunciation and also means a village or a unit of distance. As a phonetic loan, it is mainly used to transcribe foreign words, most notably for the English unit "mile". It also frequently functions as a sentence-final particle in spoken Chinese, adding a colloquial tone to indicate ongoing action or slight emphasis.

Example Sentences Hide

你在干什么

Nǐ zài gàn shénme li?

What are you doing?

天气真好

Tiānqì zhēn hǎo li!

The weather is really good!

他还在睡觉

Tā hái zài shuìjiào li.

He is still sleeping.

这本书很有趣

Zhè běn shū hěn yǒuqù li.

This book is very interesting.

你吃饭了没有

Nǐ chīfàn le méiyǒu li?

Have you eaten yet?

那个地方很远

Nàge dìfāng hěn yuǎn li.

That place is very far.

他为什么不来

Tā wèishénme bù lái li?

Why isn't he coming?

虽然下雨了,但我们还是要去

Suīrán xià yǔ le, dàn wǒmen háishì yào qù li.

Although it's raining, we still want to go.