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家境 (jiā jìng) — family financial situation; family circumstances

Definition

家境 refers specifically to a family's financial circumstances (poor, wealthy, modest). Unlike 境地 or 境遇 (general 'situation/plight') and 家世 ('family background' as lineage/social standing), 家境 is only about money.

noun
family financial situationfamily circumstances

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā jiā jìng pín hán, dàn xué xí fēi cháng nǔ lì.
    His family is poor, but he studies very hard.
  • ，。
    Tā jiā jìng fù yù, cóng xiǎo jiē shòu le liáng hǎo de jiào yù.
    Her family is wealthy, and she received a good education from childhood.
  • 家境。
    Liǎo jiě yí gè rén de jiā jìng yǒu zhù yú lǐ jiě tā de xìng gé.
    Understanding a person's family background helps to understand their personality.

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
境jìngcircumstances

家 points to the family, and 境 points to circumstances or condition.

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 →

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
竟
竟jìng境jìng
Same sound today

境 pairs 土 (earth) with 竟, which gives the sound; the 土 part carries the meaning.

Open 境 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Family & Kinship

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