大杂院 (dà zá yuàn) — (compound) a large courtyard house occupied by many households, typically in a hutong neighborhood

Definition

A 大杂院 is an old Beijing siheyuan-style courtyard subdivided and shared by many unrelated families — a distinct hutong-era housing type, not a single-family compound.

noun
(compound) a large courtyard house occupied by many households, typically in a hutong neighborhood
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 大杂院，。
    Xiǎo shí hou wǒ zhù zài yí gè dà zá yuàn lǐ, lín jū men dōu xiàng yì jiā rén yí yàng.
    When I was little, I lived in a large compound with many families, and the neighbors were all like family.
  • 大杂院，。
    Nà ge dà zá yuàn suī rán pò jiù, què chōng mǎn le shì jǐng shēng huó de qì xī.
    That compound was old and shabby, yet it was full of the flavor of everyday street life.
  • 大杂院。
    Lǎo běi jīng rén hěn huái niàn guò qù dà zá yuàn lǐ nà zhǒng rè nao de lín lǐ guān xì.
    Old Beijingers fondly remember the lively neighborly relationships in those large compounds.

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.

大dàlarge
杂院mixed courtyard
杂zámixed院yuàncourtyard
偏正Modifier + head

A 大 院 with 杂 households, a big mixed courtyard.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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 雜; 杂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
集
集jí雜zá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 雜 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 集 as a sound part, originally referring to mixed colours, perhaps in dyed clothes; the simplified 杂 is a later shorthand.

Open 杂 →

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
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
完
完wán院yuàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Open 院 →

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