城里
chénglǐ · HSK 5
In the city
🏙️ 城 = city + 里 = inside; literally inside-the-city
城 (chéng) means city or city wall; 里 (lǐ) means inside or interior. Together 城里 = inside the city, i.e. in town. Contrast with 城外 (chéngwài) = outside the city.
城 — earth radical 土 + 成 (to complete)
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: 土 (earth) gives the meaning, since ancient cities were defended by rammed-earth walls, while 成 supplies the sound. The earliest meaning was 'city wall,' which later broadened to 'walled city' and then simply 'city' or 'town.'
里 — 田 (field) + 土 (earth)
Originally a pictograph combining 田 (field) and 土 (earth), depicting cultivated land where people lived. It came to mean 'village' or 'hometown,' and by extension a unit of distance (about 500 meters). The 'inside' meaning is borrowed; that sense was traditionally written 裏 or 裡.