What Does the Chinese Character 家 Mean?

 家 

家 (jiā) means family, home, or house in Chinese. Read on to learn about its counterintuitive character development and other Chinese vocabulary words that include the character 家.

 Jia is the chinese symbol for either house or family. 

Radicals

The Chinese character 家 (jiā) consists of two radicals. One is 豕(shǐ) and the other is 宀 (miān). 豕 can stand on its own as a character, and in fact, means hog (猪)or wine (酒) . On the other hand, 宀 is not a character and can only act as a radical. It is also called the roof radical. 

Character Evolution

The first Chinese symbol for home was a pictograph of a pig 🐖 inside a house 🏠 . Although much more stylized, the modern character today still represents the character for hog underneath the roof radical. 

There are a few speculations as to why the character for home (家) in Chinese depicts a pig in a house rather than a person. 

● One explanation is the practice of animal husbandry. Because pigs were domesticated and lived inside the house, a house with a pig in it inevitably meant that it was a home for people too.

● Another possible reason is that pigs were commonly used as animal sacrifices made to family ancestors, especially during Chinese New Years. Therefore, the pig somehow symbolizes respect (尊, Zūn) for the family (家 , jiā). 

Pronunciation

家 (jiā) is pronounced in the first tone, which is flat and steady. Characters in the first tone are also typically pronounced at a relatively high pitch. 

Mandarin Vocabulary with 家 Jiā

Because 家 means home or family on its own, pairing 家 with other characters creates words or phrases that relate to the house or family. 

Here are a few examples: 

家具 (jiā jù) - furniture

家庭 (jiā tíng) - household

国家 (guó jiā) - country

家乡 (jiā xiāng) - hometown 

家人 (jiā rén) - family member 

家属 (jiāshǔ) - family members

大家 (dàjiā) - everybody; everyone 

大家庭 (dà jiātíng) - big family

出家 (chūjiā) - become a monk / nun

家家 ( jiā jiā) - every family

However, that is not always the case. There are many Chinese words containing 家 but not relating to family or home. Often, 家 refers to a person who specializes in a school of thought. For example, 科学 (kēxué) means "science." And 科学家 means " scientist." Here are a few more examples:

人家 (rénjiā) - other people

艺术 (yì shù) - art / 艺术家 (yì shù jiā) - artist

物理 ( wù lǐ) -physics / 物理学家 ( wù lǐ xué jiā) - physicist 

哲学 ( zhé xué) - philosophy / 哲学家 ( zhé xué jiā) - philosopher

专家 (zhuānjiā) - expert

行家 (hángjiā) - connoisseur

家

 房子可以用棍棒和泥土或大雪块建造。

 房子可以有二十层楼高

 或者在下面的地面上。

 家可以在山上

 或者毗邻大海。

 一个家上面可以有一个磨坊

 或者在它的一侧有一个烟囱。

 家可以是您安全无忧的地方，也可以是与家人、朋友等在一起的地方。

 家可以是你拥有你的心和你所热爱的一切的地方。

Home

A home can be made of sticks and mud Or great big blocks of snow.

A home can be twenty stories tall

Or in the ground below.

A home can be way up on a hill

Or next to the ocean wide.

A home can have a mill above

Or a chimney on its side.

A home can be where you're safe and sound Or with family, friends and more.

A home can be where you have your heart And all that you adore.