返家 (fǎn jiā) — to return home | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

verb

to return home

返家。
Tā gōng zuò jié shù hòu jí máng fǎn jiā le.
He hurriedly returned home after work.
，返家。
Chūn jié qián xī, hěn duō rén dōu huì fǎn jiā tuán jù.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, many people return home for reunion.
，返家。
Tā zài wài dì gōng zuò, měi nián zhī fǎn jiā yí cì.
She works in another city and only returns home once a year.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

返家 joins 返, to return, with 家, home, to mean going back home.

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.

辶反返

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuòmovement

Sound part声符shēngfú

反

Same sound today

返 pairs 辶 (movement) with 反 (sound, with the sense of returning); the whole character originally meant coming back along the path one came from.

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.