本家 (běn jiā) — a member of the same clan (same ancestral surname lineage); one's own birth family (as opposed to in-laws or adopted family)

Definition

本家 means one's birth family by blood (vs. in-laws or adoptive family), and by extension the wider clan sharing the same surname and ancestral line.

noun
a member of the same clan (same ancestral surname lineage)one's own birth family (as opposed to in-laws or adopted family)

Examples

  • 本家，，。
    Wǒ men shì běn jiā, dōu xìng lǐ, wǎng shàng shù sān bǎi nián shì yì jiā.
    We're from the same clan; both surnamed Li, and tracing back three hundred years we're one family.
  • 本家。
    Tā hūn hòu hái jīng cháng huí běn jiā kàn kàn fù mǔ.
    After marriage she often goes back to her birth family to visit her parents.
  • 本家。
    Zú pǔ lǐ jì zǎi le wǒ men běn jiā de suǒ yǒu zǔ xiān.
    The genealogy records all our clan's ancestors.

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.

本běnoriginal or own
家jiāfamily or home

本 contributes original or own and 家 contributes family or home, giving one's own family or same-lineage house.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

Open 本 →

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 →

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