私家 (sī jiā) — (noun) private (ownership), used as a modifier in compounds like 私家车 'private car'; (noun, literary) one's own family

Definition

Used as a modifier meaning 'private' (私家车 'private car', 私家侦探 'private detective'), contrasting with public or commercial. 私家 also means 'one's own family' in literary contexts.

noun
private (ownership), used as a modifier in compounds like 私家车 'private car'(noun, literary) one's own family

Examples

  • 。
    Tā kāi le yí liàng sī jiā chē.
    He drove a private car.
  • 私家。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī shì sī jiā qǐ yè.
    This company is a private enterprise.
  • 私家。
    Tā qǐng le yí wèi sī jiā zhēn tàn.
    He hired a private detective.

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.

私sīprivate
家jiāfamily/house

私 contributes private and 家 family/house, together giving private household or ownership.

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
厶
厶sī私sī
Same sound today

私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.

Open 私 →

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 →

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