Exceptions to the generalisation that Chinese characters represent monosyllables

(This is a side note to the page The Chinese Writing System)

Although Chinese characters almost invariably represent monosyllabic forms (each character represents a single syllable), there are a few rare exceptions.

1. At one stage polysyllabic characters were created to represent foreign weights and measures.

For example, li²-mi³ 'centimetre', hao²-ke⁴, 'milligram', qian¹-ke⁴, 'kilogram', qian¹-wa³ 'kilowatt', etc.

These characters are no longer used, at least in Mainland China.

2. A reverse example is the character *er, which adds an 'r' colouring and is smaller than a syllable.