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小家庭 (xiǎo jiā tíng) — nuclear family; small family (as opposed to extended family)

Definition

A small family unit of just parents and children — the everyday term for a 'nuclear family', contrasted with the larger 大家庭 (extended family living together).

noun
nuclear familysmall family (as opposed to extended family)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 小家庭。
    Xiàn zài hěn duō nián qīng rén xuǎn zé guò xiǎo jiā tíng shēng huó.
    Now many young people choose to live in a nuclear family.
  • ，小家庭。
    Tā men jié hūn hòu bān chū qù, zǔ chéng le zì jǐ de xiǎo jiā tíng.
    After they got married, they moved out and formed their own nuclear family.
  • 小家庭，。
    xiǎo jiā tíng De hǎo chù shì guān xì jiǎn dān, máo dùn shǎo.
    The advantage of a nuclear family is that relationships are simple and there are fewer conflicts.

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.

小xiǎosmall
家庭family
家jiāhome庭tíngcourtyard
联合Coordinate

小 means small, and 家庭 means household, so it refers to a small family unit.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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
广广guǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
廷
廷tíng庭tíng
Same sound today

庭 combines 广 with 廷. The 廷 part gives the sound, and 广 is the meaning part.

Open 庭 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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