Character lin-neighbor

邻

PINYIN

lín

Main meanings:

① neighborhood.
② neighbor
③ near

HSK - 3

STROKES - 7

RADICAL - 阝

Etymology:

Elements ---- City 阝= 邑 + order 令. Phonetic series 令.

S. 鄰: Neighborhood was five families. Part of the city from where the dancing flames of a neighbor 粦 are seen. Neighborhood > neighbor > near. Now cities that receive the same orders 令 are near, neighbor cities.

Main Words:

邻居 línjū neighbor.
邻里línlǐ neighborhood; neighbors.
邻近línjìn near; adjacent to.

Discussion and sources

Cheng Menghui (2004) and Gao Jingcheng (2013) say that this character originally referred to a territorial unit in Zhao Dynasty: Five families formed a neighborhood lin. Later it was used to refer to the people living in a neighborhood > neighbors, as an extended meaning, to near, close, adjacent.

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