家访 (jiā fǎng) — home visit (by a teacher); to make a home visit

Definition

A teacher's visit to a student's home — both the activity (verb) and the event itself (noun). Closely tied to school context in mainland China, where teachers use it to understand the family background of students.

home visit (by a teacher)to make a home visit
Measure word · 次

Examples

  • 家访。
    Lǎo shī míng tiān yào qù xué shēng jiā zuò jiā fǎng.
    The teacher is going to a student's home for a home visit tomorrow.
  • 家访。
    Zhè cì jiā fǎng ràng wǒ duì xué shēng de jiā tíng yǒu le gèng duō liǎo jiě.
    This home visit helped me understand more about the student's family.
  • 家访。
    Xué xiào yāo qiú měi wèi lǎo shī měi xué qī zhì shǎo zuò yí cì jiā fǎng.
    The school requires every teacher to do at least one home visit per semester.

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jiāhome
访fǎngvisit

家 points to the home or family, and 访 means visit, giving a home visit.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 訪; 访 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yántalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng訪fǎng
Same sound today

The traditional form 訪 pairs 言 (talk) with 方 to give the sound; the simplified 访 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the historical part.

Open 访 →

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