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民居 (mín jū) — traditional folk houses; vernacular dwellings

Definition

民居 refers to traditional folk houses of a region or ethnic group — a cultural/architectural term, not a generic word for 'house' like 房屋 or 住宅.

noun
traditional folk housesvernacular dwellings
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 民居。
    Zhè xiē mín jū yǐ jīng yǒu jǐ bǎi nián de lì shǐ le.
    These folk houses are already hundreds of years old.
  • 民居。
    Yún nán de mín jū fēng gé fēi cháng dú tè.
    The folk houses in Yunnan have a very unique style.
  • 民居。
    Bǎo hù mín jū duì chuán chéng wén huà hěn zhòng yào.
    Protecting folk houses is very important for passing on culture.

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.

民mínpeople/folk
居jūdwelling

民 (people/folk) and 居 (dwelling) combine to mean homes of ordinary people.

Characters in this word

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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