裔

yì

冏 + 衣

Definitions

yì (bound form) descendants; (bound form) of ... ancestry (as in 華裔|华裔[huá yì] "of Chinese descent"); (literary) distant lands; (literary) fringe; periphery

Etymology phono-semantic

bright

Semantic: 冏 Phonetic: 衣

About

裔 (yì) has a structure where the phonetic 冏 (jiǒng) is completely wrapped inside a divided 衣 (yī), the clothing radical that provides the semantic clue. Its earliest sense was the hem, lower border, or edge of a garment. From this physical extremity, it took on the geographical meaning of remote frontier regions, border areas, or the outer fringes of an empire. A further metaphorical extension led to its most common modern usage: denoting descendants, offspring, or subsequent generations of a specific lineage, ethnic group, or family bloodline.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Early Warring States (~400 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我是华裔美国人。

Wǒ shì huáyì měiguó rén.

I am a Chinese American.

很多华裔学习中文。

Hěn duō huáyì xuéxí zhōngwén.

Many ethnic Chinese learn Chinese.

华裔儿童常常学习汉语。

Huáyì értóng chángcháng xuéxí hànyǔ.

Chinese descendant children often learn the Chinese language.

他是孔子的后裔。

Tā shì kǒngzǐ de hòuyì.

He is a descendant of Confucius.

这位华裔科学家获得了诺贝尔奖。

Zhè wèi huáyì kēxuéjiā huòdé le nuòbèi'ěr jiǎng.

This ethnic Chinese scientist won the Nobel Prize.

许多华裔回到中国寻找他们的根源。

Xǔduō huáyì huí dào zhōngguó xúnzhǎo tāmen de gēnyuán.

Many ethnic Chinese return to China to search for their roots.

当华裔青少年访问中国时，他们感到非常亲切。

Dāng huáyì qīngshàonián fǎngwèn zhōngguó shí, tāmen gǎndào fēicháng qīnqiè.

When ethnic Chinese teenagers visit China, they feel very familiar and cordial.

尽管是华裔，但他从未去过中国，因此他对中国文化充满好奇。

Jǐnguǎn shì huáyì, dàn tā cóng wèi qù guò zhōngguó, yīncǐ tā duì zhōngguó wénhuà chōngmǎn hàoqí.

Although he is ethnic Chinese, he has never been to China, so he is full of curiosity about Chinese culture.

Related Characters

Component: 冏

Component: 衣

裔