除此之外
chúcǐzhīwài · HSK 7
in addition
➕ chu-ci-zhi-wai = remove + this + 's + outside — beyond this point
Each character builds the meaning: 除 remove/except, 此 this, 之 possessive particle, 外 outside. Together they say apart from this or additionally — stepping outside what was just mentioned to add more.
除 — left ear/mound 阝 + surplus 余
除 combines the 'mound/steps' radical 阝 (originally 阜, a hill) with 余 as the phonetic. It first meant the steps of a palace, then extended to 'remove' or 'clear away' (as one sweeps steps clean), and later to mathematical 'divide.'
此 — foot 止 + spoon/person 匕
此 originally depicted a person (匕) standing with a foot (止), suggesting 'to stop here' or 'this place.' Over time the meaning generalized from a specific location to the demonstrative pronoun 'this.' The foot component still hints at the original sense of standing in a particular spot.
之 — foot 止 above ground line 一
Originally a pictograph of a foot (止) stepping forward from a baseline, meaning 'to go' or 'to proceed'. Over time the concrete 'going' sense faded, and 之 was borrowed as a grammatical particle marking possession ('of') or as a pronoun ('it'), which became its dominant use in Classical Chinese.
外 — evening 夕 + divination 卜
Originally a compound of 夕 (evening) and 卜 (divination). Ancient Chinese divinations were performed in the morning; doing them at evening (夕) was considered irregular or 'outside' the norm. From this sense of deviation, 外 came to mean 'outside' or 'external'.