族谱 (zú pǔ) — clan genealogy; family tree

Definition

A written record of a clan's ancestors and lineage, often going back many generations. In everyday speech 家族/家谱 is more common; 族谱 sounds more formal and refers to the broader clan rather than one immediate family.

noun
clan genealogyfamily tree
Measure word · 本

Examples

  • 族谱。
    Zhè běn zú pǔ jì lù le wǒ men jiā zú sān bǎi nián de lì shǐ.
    This genealogy records three hundred years of our family history.
  • 族谱。
    Tā huā le hěn duō shí jiān qù zhěng lǐ zǔ shàng chuán xià lái de zú pǔ.
    He spent a lot of time organizing the genealogy passed down from his ancestors.
  • ，族谱。
    Zài lǎo jiā, měi nián qīng míng dōu huì bǎ zú pǔ ná chū lái jì bài zǔ xiān.
    In my hometown, we take out the genealogy to pay respects to our ancestors every Qingming Festival.

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.

族zúclan
谱pǔrecord

族 names a clan, and 谱 names a record, combining into a clan record.

Characters in this word

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

族 combines 㫃, a flag, and 矢, an arrow.

Open 族 →

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 譜; 谱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánsound
Sound part声符shēngfú
普
普pǔ譜pǔ(r)
Same sound today

In the traditional form 譜, 言 relates to sound and 普 gives the pronunciation; this explanation is about 譜, not the simplified 谱.

Open 谱 →

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