皇家 (huáng jiā) — imperial family, royal house

Definition

noun

imperial familyroyal house

皇家。
Yīng guó de huáng jiā lì shǐ yōu jiǔ.
The British royal family has a long history.
皇家。
Zhè zuò gōng diàn céng shì huáng jiā de zhù suǒ.
This palace was once the residence of the royal family.
皇家。
huáng jiā De chéng yuán jīng cháng cān jiā cí shàn huó dòng.
Members of the royal family often participate in charity events.

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.

皇 points to the emperor, and 家 means family or house, so 皇家 is the imperial family.

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

𤼽𤼽𤼽

Sound part声符shēngfú

王

王wáng皇huáng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The part 𤼽 originally drew a single peacock feather; 王 was later added to give the sound.

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.

Appears in