名家 (míng jiā) — renowned expert, master (in a field of art or scholarship); illustrious family, distinguished clan

Definition

名家 has two distinct uses: it names a renowned master in an art or scholarly field (as in 齐白石是名家), or refers to a distinguished family with a long tradition of achievement. The sense depends on context — people vs. lineage.

noun
renowned expertmaster (in a field of art or scholarship)illustrious familydistinguished clan

Examples

  • 名家。
    Qí bái shí shì zhōng guó jìn dài de míng jiā huà jiā.
    Qi Baishi is a master painter of modern China.
  • 名家，。
    Tā jiā shì dāng dì yǒu míng de míng jiā, shì dài shū xiāng.
    His family is a well-known illustrious family in the area, with a literary tradition for generations.
  • 名家。
    Zhè cì zhǎn lǎn huì jí le zhòng duō míng jiā de zuò pǐn.
    This exhibition brings together works by many masters.

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.

名míngfamous
家jiāexpert or family

名 (famous) describes 家 (expert or family), giving a renowned expert or clan.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

Open 名 →

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.

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