家

Stroke order

Stroke order

家 (Kangxi radical 40, 宀+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 十一尸人 (JMSO), four-corner 3023₂, composition ⿱宀豕)

• 傢, 𠺢, 嫁, 幏, 𣺊, 榢, 𤨎, 稼, 糘, 鎵/镓

• 𛀢

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 286, character 17
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7169
• Dae Jaweon: page 566, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 930, character 15
• Unihan data for U+5BB6

Historical forms of the character 家
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Oracle bone script: Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kraː) : semantic 宀 (“roof”) + phonetic 𢑓 (, “male pig”).^[1] An archaic variant closer to the original drawing is 𡩀. See 𢑓 (xiá) for more. Similar to 冡.

Later the phonetic component have been corrupted to 豕, so Shuowen Jiezi erroneously analyzed it as Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kraː) : semantic 宀 (“roof”) + abbreviated phonetic 豭 (OC *kraː, “pig”).

All etymologies based on the modern version of the phonetic component (豕) are folk etymologies since they miss the original component (𢑓).

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 家 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• 家 (Cantonese)

Cognate with Tibetan མཁར (mkhar, “castle; house”) (Schuessler, 2007).

嫁 (OC *kraːs, “to give a girl in marriage”) is the exoactive of 家 (OC *kraː, “house; household; family”).

家

1. home

   回家  ―  huíjiā  ―  to return home

   我的家就在這裡。 [MSC, trad.]
   我的家就在这里。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ de jiā jiù zài zhèlǐ.

   My home is here.

2. family; household (Classifier: 頭／头 c)

   家庭  ―  jiātíng  ―  family

   家事  ―  jiāshì  ―  family matters

   李家  ―  Lǐ jiā  ―  The Li family

   我家有四口人。  ―  Wǒ jiā yǒu sì kǒu rén.  ―  We are a family of four.

3. (polite, for family member) my

   家父  ―  jiāfù  ―  my father

4. domesticated; domestic

   家兔  ―  jiātù  ―  domestic rabbit

   家貓／家猫  ―  jiāmāo  ―  domestic cat

5. Classifier for families, businesses and companies.

   一家餐廳／一家餐厅  ―  yī jiā cāntīng  ―  a restaurant

   兩家商店／两家商店  ―  liǎng jiā shāngdiàn  ―  two shops

   四家人家  ―  sì jiā rénjiā  ―  four families

6. school of thought; philosophical school

   儒家  ―  Rújiā  ―  Confucian school

   道家  ―  Dàojiā  ―  Daoist School

   一家之言  ―  yījiāzhīyán  ―  one's own thought, opinion, interpretation, etc.

7. (historical, obsolete) fief of ministers or senior officials

   • 若使天下兼相愛，愛人若愛其身：……猶有大夫之相亂家、諸侯之相攻國者乎？視人家若其家，誰亂？視人國若其國，誰攻？故大夫之相亂家、諸侯之相攻國者亡有。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     若使天下兼相爱，爱人若爱其身：……犹有大夫之相乱家、诸侯之相攻国者乎？视人家若其家，谁乱？视人国若其国，谁攻？故大夫之相乱家、诸侯之相攻国者亡有。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mozi, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on Y. P. Mei's version

     Ruòshǐ tiānxià jiān xiàng'ài, àirén ruò ài qí shēn:...... Yóu yǒu dàfū zhī xiàng luàn jiā, zhūhóu zhī xiàng gōng guó zhě hū? Shì rénjiā ruò qí jiā, shéi luàn? Shì rénguó ruò qí guó, shéi gōng? Gù dàfū zhī xiàng luàn jiā, zhūhóu zhī xiàng gōng guó zhě wáng yǒu.

     Suppose everybody in the world loves universally, loving others as one's self: Will there be mutual disturbance among the houses of the ministers and invasion among the states of the feudal lords? When every one regards the houses of others as one's own, who will be disturbing? When every one regards the states of others as one's own, who will invade? Therefore there will be neither disturbances among the houses of the ministers nor invasion among the states of the feudal lords.

   • 王曰『何以利吾國』？大夫曰『何以利吾家』？士庶人曰『何以利吾身』？上下交征利而國危矣。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     王曰『何以利吾国』？大夫曰『何以利吾家』？士庶人曰『何以利吾身』？上下交征利而国危矣。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Wáng yuē ‘héyǐ lì wúguó’? Dàfū yuē ‘héyǐ lì wújiā’? Shì shùrén yuē ‘héyǐ lì wúshēn’? Shàngxià jiāo zhēng lì ér guó wēi yǐ.

     If Your Majesty says, ‘Whereby may I profit my state?’ your grandees shall say, ‘Whereby may I profit my household?’ and your gentlemen and common people shall say, ‘Whereby may I profit myself?’ When those higher and lower compete with one another for profit, the state will be in danger.

8. Suffix denoting a person with a certain occupation or social standing. -er

   船家  ―  chuánjiā  ―  boatperson

   行家  ―  hángjiā  ―  expert; connoisseur

9. Suffix denoting specialist in a certain activity or field. -ist; -er

   藝術家／艺术家  ―  yìshùjiā  ―  artist

   科學家／科学家  ―  kēxuéjiā  ―  scientist

   野心家  ―  yěxīnjiā  ―  person of ambition; careerist

10. (in a game) party; side

    對家／对家  ―  duìjiā  ―  opposite player

    莊家／庄家  ―  zhuāngjiā  ―  banker; house

11. Suffix used after a noun to specify a type of person.

    親家／亲家  ―  qìngjia  ―  one's child's parents-in-law

    仇家  ―  chóujiā  ―  personal enemy

    老人家身體可還好啊？ [MSC, trad.]
    老人家身体可还好啊？ [MSC, simp.]

    Lǎorénjiā shēntǐ kě hái hǎo a?

    Is the parent of yours well?

12. a surname

• (family):

• (suffix used after a noun to specify a type of person): 家家 (jiājiā), (Cantonese) 人家 (jan⁴ gaa¹)