眼里
yǎnlǐ · HSK 4
eye
👀 眼 (eye) + 里 (inside) = inside the eyes
眼 means eye and 里 means inside or within. Together 眼里 literally reads as inside the eyes, used figuratively for what someone notices or holds dear in their view.
眼 — eye radical 目 + 艮 (phonetic)
眼 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 目 means 'eye' and gives the meaning, while 艮 on the right supplies the sound. Originally referring to the eyeball, it broadened over time to mean 'eye' generally and, by extension, 'a hole' or 'key point'.
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.