yuánzì Chinese characters of the chemical elements

“unit of distance; village; lane; Kangxi radical 166”

On its own, an ordinary character; Cantonese lei5. Readings and gloss from the Unicode Unihan database.

Carries Lithium

metal → solid metal
+
=
· Li 3

Transliterates syllable 1 of lit·hium: lithium.

The element keeps the component’s reading exactly.