举家 (jǔ jiā) — the whole family (used adverbially before verbs of motion or relocation)

Definition

A formal/literary adverbial meaning 'the whole family (did something together)', almost always followed by a motion verb like 搬, 去, or 外出. It emphasizes a family acting as one unit, more written than everyday 全家.

noun
the whole family (used adverbially before verbs of motion or relocation)

Examples

  • 举家。
    Tā men jǔ jiā bān dào le běi jīng.
    Their whole family moved to Beijing.
  • 举家。
    Jīn nián shǔ jià wǒ men jǔ jiā qù ōu zhōu lǚ xíng.
    This summer vacation, our whole family is traveling to Europe.
  • 举家。
    Zuó tiān tā men jǔ jiā wài chū chī fàn le.
    Yesterday their whole family went out to eat.

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.

举jǔwhole
家jiāfamily

举 means whole, 家 means family, together referring to the entire family.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 舉; 举 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
與
與yǔ舉jǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 舉 pairs 與, which gives the sound, with 手, a hand; the simplified 举 is a later shorthand.

Open 举 →

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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