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家宴 (jiā yàn) — family feast; family reunion banquet

Definition

A formal banquet held at home for family or guests — more elaborate than an everyday 家常便饭. Often tied to holidays, weddings, or special occasions rather than daily meals.

noun
family feastfamily reunion banquet
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • ，家宴。
    Měi nián chūn jié, wǒ men dōu huì jǔ bàn yì chǎng jiā yàn.
    Every Spring Festival, we host a family feast.
  • 家宴。
    Tā yāo qǐng wǒ cān jiā tā jiā de jiā yàn.
    He invited me to attend his family's feast.
  • 家宴。
    Nà tiān de jiā yàn zhǔn bèi le èr shí dào cài.
    That day's family feast had twenty dishes prepared.

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.

家jiāfamily
宴yànfeast

家 (family) and 宴 (feast) combine: a feast for the family.

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.

Open 家 →

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mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
妟
妟yàn宴
Same sound today

宴 has 宀, a roof, above 妟, which shows a woman and the sun. 妟 also supplies the sound, and the whole shape pictures a woman under a roof with sunlight.

Open 宴 →
Appears in
Dining & RestaurantsFamily & Kinship

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