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每家 (měi jiā) — every household; each family

Definition

pronoun
every householdeach family

Examples

  • 每家。
    Xiǎo qū lǐ de měi jiā dōu shōu dào le tōng zhī.
    Every household in the neighborhood received the notice.
  • ，每家。
    Zài zhōng guó, měi jiā dōu yǒu zì jǐ de chuán tǒng.
    In China, each family has its own traditions.
  • 每家。
    Zhè cì diào chá fǎng wèn le měi jiā dài biǎo.
    This survey visited a representative from every household.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

每 shows 母, a woman, with a top part resembling 屮. That part may represent a hairpin marking her as grown up, or a sprout marking her as ready to marry and have children.

Open 每 →

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 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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