家家 (jiā jiā) — every family; each household

Definition

家家 is a bound form meaning "every family / each household" — almost always followed by 都 ("家家都…"). It is the written/collective counterpart to the more colloquial 每个家.

bound form

every familyeach household

Examples

，家家。
Chūn jié shí, jiā jiā dōu tiē shàng le fú zì.
During Spring Festival, every household puts up the 'fu' character.
家家。
Xiàn zài jiā jiā dōu yòng shàng le zhì néng shǒu jī.
Now every family uses smartphones.
家家。
Zhè jiàn shì jiā jiā dōu zhī dào.
This matter is known to every family.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

家jiāfamily

The doubled 家 refers to every family or household.

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 →