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公家 (gōng jiā) — the state; the public sector; (historical) the imperial family

Definition

公家 refers to the state or the public sector — government bodies, state-owned workplaces, and collectively owned property, as opposed to private (私人). In older usage it can mean the imperial family.

noun
the statethe public sector(historical) the imperial family
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 公家。
    Tā zài gōng jiā dān wèi gōng zuò.
    He works at a state-run organization.
  • 公家，。
    Zhè xiē qián shì gōng jiā de, bù néng suí biàn yòng.
    This money belongs to the public sector and cannot be used casually.
  • 公家。
    gōng jiā De dōng xī yào ài hù.
    Public property should be taken care of.

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.

公gōngpublic
家jiāhousehold

公 (public) combines with 家 (household) to mean the state or public side.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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 →
Appears in
Government & Politics

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