家 (jiā) · home, family, house

Meanings

1 home
2 family
3 house
4 measure word for families and businesses (shops, companies, restaurants)

Characters

家

jiā

home; family

宀 (roof) + 豕 (pig) - a pig under a roof meant a settled household.

Examples

HSK 1

我想回家。

Wǒ xiǎng huí jiā.

I want to go home.

HSK 1

他在一家公司工作。

Tā zài yì jiā gōngsī gōngzuò.

He works at a company.

HSK 1

我家有五个人。

Wǒ jiā yǒu wǔ gè rén.

There are five people in my family.

Tips

history

The character 家 shows a pig (豕) under a roof (宀). In ancient China, keeping pigs under the roof was a sign of a settled household.

usage

家 doubles as a suffix meaning 'expert' or 'specialist': 科学家 (scientist), 画家 (painter), 音乐家 (musician).

Components

radical

宀 mián

roof; cover

Top roof radical - the indexing component. The roof shelters the household, the literal walls and ceiling that define a home. 宀 anchors the dwelling family: 安 (peace under roof), 室 (room), 守 (guard), 客 (guest), 完 (complete).

semantic

豕 shǐ

pig; swine

Bottom 豕 - pig. In ancient agrarian China, keeping a pig under the roof was the mark of a settled household; pigs converted scraps into protein and were a household's stored wealth. The whole character is a compound ideograph: roof + pig = home. 豕 also lends its shape to 象 (elephant) and 豪 (heroic, originally a porcupine).