家 (jiā) — home; family; (classifier) for families, businesses, or organizations; (suffix) specialist in a field, -ist
Definition
At HSK 1, 家 means 'home' (the place: 我回家) and 'family' (the people: 我家有三口人). As a noun-suffix meaning '-ist / -er' (e.g. 音乐家), it pairs more naturally with fields/art forms than 者, which attaches to verbs or abstracts.
noun
homefamily
classifier
for familiesbusinessesor organizations
suffix
specialist in a field-ist
Measure word · 个
Examples
- 。Wǒ huí jiā.I go home.
- 家。Nà yǒu sān jiā shāng diàn.There are three shops over there.
- Wǒ jiā yǒu sān kǒu rénMy family has three people.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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.
Grammar
Appears in
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