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家业 (jiā yè) — family property; family estate; family enterprise

Definition

Refers to the property, land, or business passed down through generations of a family. Often implies inherited wealth rather than personal earnings.

noun
family propertyfamily estatefamily enterprise

Examples

  • 家业。
    Tā jì chéng le fù mǔ de jiā yè.
    He inherited his parents' family property.
  • ，家业。
    Jīng guò duō nián nǔ lì, tā jiàn lì le yí fèn jiā yè.
    Through years of effort, he built up a family enterprise.
  • 家业。
    Zhè fèn jiā yè shì tā yé ye liú xià de.
    This family estate was left by his grandfather.

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.

家jiāfamily
业yèestate/enterprise

家 means family and 业 means estate or enterprise; together they mean family property.

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.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →
Appears in
Business & CommerceFamily & Kinship

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