舍 (shè): residence; house; quarters

Meanings

1 residence; house; quarters
2 my (humble prefix for younger relatives)

Characters

舍

shè

residence; house; quarters

Examples

宿舍在哪儿？

Sùshè zài nǎr?

Where is the dormitory?

这座老校舍建于五十年代。

Zhè zuò lǎo xiàoshè jiànyú wǔshí niándài.

This old school building was put up in the 1950s.

Tips

usage

The shè reading means a building or living quarters: 宿舍 (dormitory), 校舍 (school building), 旅舍 (inn). It also forms humble self-reference terms like 寒舍 (my humble home) and 舍弟 (my younger brother). The verb 'to give up' is the separate reading shě.

Components

radical

舌 shé

tongue (here: hut body)

The lower section is shaped like 舌 (the indexing radical, Kangxi 135) but historically depicts the post-and-wall body of a hut, not a tongue. With the roof above, the whole graph reads 'small dwelling', the source of the 'lodge, shed' senses; the 'give up, abandon' sense extends from leaving a temporary shelter behind.

pictograph

人 rén

person; roof

Top forms a clear peaked-roof shape, a recognizable architectural cover above the post-and-wall structure below. The same roof silhouette caps 今, 介, and 全, signalling shelter or cover. As a whole the character pictures a small thatched hut: peaked roof on top, walls beneath.