新居 (xīn jū) — new home, new residence

Definition

noun

new homenew residence

Measure word · 个

Examples

新居。
Wǒ xià ge yuè yào bān jìn xīn jū le.
I'm moving into my new home next month.
新居。
Tā men zhèng zài bù zhì xīn jū.
They are decorating their new home.
新居。
Wǒ men zài xīn jū qǐng péng you chī fàn.
We invited friends for a meal at our new home.

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.

新xīnnew

居jūresidence

新 means new, and 居 means residence, so it refers to a new home.

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.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斤斤jīn

Sound part声符shēngfú

辛

辛xīn新xīn

Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

Open 新 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

尸古居

Meaning part形符xíngfú

尸尸shī

Sound part声符shēngfú

古

古gǔ居jū

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →

Appears in