祖坟 (zǔ fén) — ancestral grave; family burial site

Definition

Literally 'ancestors' grave' — the family burial site, often linked to the clan's fortune (feng shui). Unlike a single tomb (坟/墓), it refers to the collective ancestral burial ground.

noun
ancestral gravefamily burial site
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • ，祖坟。
    Měi nián qīng míng jié, wǒ men quán jiā dōu huì qù sǎo zǔ fén.
    Every year at Qingming Festival, our whole family goes to sweep the ancestral graves.
  • 祖坟，。
    Tā men jiā zǔ fén de fēng shuǐ hěn hǎo, hòu dài dōu hěn xīng wàng.
    The feng shui of their ancestral graves is very good, so their descendants are all prosperous.
  • ，祖坟。
    Tā kǎo shàng míng pái dà xué, qīn qi dōu shuō tā jiā zǔ fén mào qīng yān le.
    He got into a prestigious university, and relatives all said his ancestral grave was emitting green smoke (i.e., incredible luck).

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.

祖zǔancestor
坟féngrave

祖 means ancestor and 坟 means grave, so the word names the grave of ancestors.

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
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě祖zǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

祖 was made by adding 示 to 且, and 且 gives the sound.

Open 祖 →

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 墳; 坟 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
賁
賁bì墳fén
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 墳, 土 shows the meaning and 賁 gives the sound.

Open 坟 →

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