家信 (jiā xìn) — letter to or from one's family; family letter

Definition

noun

letter to or from one's familyfamily letter

Measure word · 封

家信。
Tā měi gè yuè dōu huì gěi fù mǔ xiě yì fēng jiā xìn.
He writes a letter to his parents every month.
家信，。
Shōu dào jiā xìn de shí hou, tā zǒng shì tè bié kāi xīn.
Whenever she receives a letter from home, she is especially happy.
家信。
Zhè fēng jiā xìn yǐ jīng bǎo cún le jǐ shí nián.
This family letter has been kept for decades.

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.

A letter (信) about or from home (家).

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

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.

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

言言yánwords

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.