俺家 (ǎn jiā) — (dialectal) my family; my home

Definition

俺家 is a colloquial, northern-dialect way to say 'my home' or 'my family' (first-person speaker, often rural or casual). It stands in for 'I/my household' as a whole, unlike 我家 which is the standard, neutral form.

noun
(dialectal) my familymy home

Examples

  • 俺家。
    ǎn jiā Zhù zài běi jīng.
    My home is in Beijing.
  • 俺家。
    ǎn jiā Yǒu sān kǒu rén.
    My family has three people.
  • 俺家，？
    Míng tiān ǎn jiā qǐng kè, nǐ lái bù lái?
    My family is hosting a dinner tomorrow; are you coming?

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.

俺ǎnI/my
家jiāhome/family

俺 means I or my, and 家 means home or family: my home.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
奄
奄yǎn俺ǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

俺 pairs 亻 (person) with 奄, which provides the sound. The 亻 part connects the character to people, while 奄 points to its pronunciation.

Open 俺 →

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 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.