釐 (lí) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

釐

lí[li2]Tone 2

centi-, one hundredth, or Li (historical figure)

HSK 4

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厘

Guru Deep Dive

English · centi-, one hundredth, or Li (historical figure)

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (里) takes up about half of the width, while the right side (攴/夂 variant) handles the stretching and vertical drop.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 釐 was simplified to 厘 by streamlining the complex upper and right elements while retaining the phonetic base 里.

1. Meaning

one hundredth (centi-)

Li (historical legendary figure)ancient Chinese unit of measurement (centimeter/millimeter)

Bound form / Prefix / NounFormal / Scientific / LiteraryBound morpheme#numbers#measurements#history

Sample Usage

厘米
lí mǐ
centimeter
毫厘
háo lí
a tiny hair's breadth / minute difference

2. Sound

/[li³⁵]/Tone: 35

釐

líli2

´(35)

=lí

Initial Consonant

Type: Alveolar Lateral

Sounds like: l sound as in 'love'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Air flows freely around both sides of tongue.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth while air flows laterally.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -ee sound as in 'see'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ee'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises like a questioning English sentence (e.g., 'Huh?').

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, changes to a 2nd tone.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the rising Tone 2 (lí) with Tone 4 (lì) when spoken quickly in compound words.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A rising hand gesture starting from mid-chest and moving up towards the right ear, matching the upward pitch contour of Tone 2.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (里) takes up about half of the width, while the right side (攴/夂 variant) handles the stretching and vertical drop.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 釐 was simplified to 厘 by streamlining the complex upper and right elements while retaining the phonetic base 里.

4. Components

Radical 里 · Village Radical (village, neighborhood, inside)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 里 (Provides the semantic base and village context)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 里 (original sound: li)

The character combines the village/inside component (里) on the left with a striking/action hand component on the right, signifying precise division or measurement down to a tiny fraction.

里 phonetic and semantic base (village)
攴 action / tapping hand

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 厘 (lí)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally created as a phono-semantic compound where 里 provides the sound 'li' and an action element implies measurement or division.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from abstract fractional divisions to standard metric prefixes like 'centi-' (one hundredth) in modern scientific terminology.

Used historically as a personal name for ancient legendary figures before taking on mathematical measurement values.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

Matches the flat or rising Sino-Vietnamese vocalization depending on historical tone category.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: リ

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

리

Sound Shift Bridge: Direct phonetic correspondence across East Asian scientific terminology for 'centi-'.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

In a tiny village (里) measured down to the last centi-meter, a careful hand makes precise divisions.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

理

lǐreason, logicAdded jade/king radical (王) for precious logic.

鲤

lǐcarpAdded fish radical (鱼) for aquatic carp.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

里(lǐ)

里 means village or inside without the right-side action stroke elements.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

這張桌子有一米五[___]長。

Clue: lí mǐ

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 厘 (centimeter prefix) with 里 (village/distance unit) in compound measurements.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 厘, what numerical fraction or prefix does it represent?

Production: How do you write the character for 'centi-' (lí)?

釐lícenti-, one hundredth, or Li (historical figure)

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