成家立业 (chéng jiā-lì yè) — to get married and start a career; to settle down (as an adult life milestone)

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'to get married and start a career' — settling into adult life as one milestone. Unlike 塌 'to sink/settle', this phrase is about life milestones, not physical sinking.

phrase
to get married and start a careerto settle down (as an adult life milestone)

Examples

  • 成家立业。
    Tā dǎ suàn sān shí suì zhī qián chéng jiā-lì yè.
    He plans to get married and start a career before the age of thirty.
  • 成家立业。
    Xǔ duō fù mǔ xī wàng hái zi zǎo diǎn chéng jiā-lì yè.
    Many parents hope their children will settle down early.
  • 成家立业。
    chéng jiā-lì yè Shì rén shēng zhōng de yí jiàn dà shì.
    Getting married and starting a career is a major event in life.

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.

成家make a home
成chéngestablish家jiāhome
动宾Verb + object
立业build a career
立lìestablish业yècareer
动宾Verb + object

成家 and 立业 join two life goals: making a home and building a career.

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
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

立 pictures a person standing on the ground.

Open 立 →

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
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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