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亲家 (qìng jia) — parents of one's daughter-in-law or son-in-law; one's child's spouse's parents

Definition

亲家 (qìngjia) is the family-specific kinship term for the parents of your child's spouse — the two families become 亲家 to each other through the marriage. Use it to address the other set of parents, as in the greeting 亲家，您好.

noun
parents of one's daughter-in-law or son-in-lawone's child's spouse's parents
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 亲家，。
    Wǒ men liǎng jiā shì qìng jia, jīng cháng yì qǐ chī fàn.
    Our two families are related through our children's marriage, and we often eat together.
  • 亲家，！
    qìng jia, Nín ér zi zhēn yǒu chū xi!
    My fellow in-law, your son is really accomplished!
  • ，亲家。
    Wèi le hái zi de hūn shì, liǎng gè qìng jia xiān jiàn le miàn.
    For the children's wedding, the two sets of in-laws met first.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

亲qīnkin
家jiāfamily

亲 points to kinship and 家 to family, naming the family tied by marriage.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 親; 亲 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn親qīn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 親 uses 見 (see) for sense and 辛 (a chisel) for sound; the simplified 亲 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 亲 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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