家乡 (jiā xiāng) — hometown, native place

Definition

家乡 is the standard word for 'hometown, native place,' used warmly and personally. 老乡 means a fellow person from the same hometown, not the place itself.

noun
hometownnative place
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 家乡。
    Tā lí kāi jiā xiāng yǐ jīng shí nián le.
    He left his hometown ten years ago.
  • 家乡。
    Wǒ de jiā xiāng zài nán fāng de yí gè xiǎo chéng.
    My hometown is a small city in the south.
  • 。
    Měi nián chūn jié wǒ dōu huí jiā xiāng guò nián.
    Every Spring Festival I go back to my hometown for the New Year.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

家jiāhome
乡xiāngnative place

家 means home and 乡 means native place; together they name one's hometown.

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 鄉; 乡 is its simplified writing.

  • 𠨍𠨍𠨍two people facing each other
  • 皀皀jía round-mouthed food vessel

The traditional form 鄉 combines two people facing each other with a round-mouthed food vessel, depicting a feast. The village meaning is connected to this feasting event.

Open 乡 →
Appears in
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