漢字Kanji · in Structures & Home
家: house, home
Also: family, professional, expert, performer
宀 carries the meaning · 豕 is drawn in
Four readings, and the words that use each
カka · on'yomi · in compounds
- 家族かぞくfamily
- 家内かないwife
- 家具かぐfurniture
- 作曲家さっきょくかcomposer
- 作家さっかwriter, artist
ケke · on'yomi
- 徳川家とくがわけthe House of Tokugawa
いえie · kun'yomi · on its own
- 家いえhouse
- 家出するいえでするrun away from home
やya · kun'yomi
- 家賃やちんrent
- 一軒家いっけんやfree standing home
- 大家おおやlandlord
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 家うちhouse, family
Also read うち, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)宀 roof (meaning) + 𢑓 male pig (sound)
Oracle bone script: Phono-semantic compound (形聲): semantic 宀 (“roof”) + phonetic 𢑓 (“male pig”). An archaic variant closer to the original drawing is 𡩀.
Source: Wiktionary, 家 (rev. 94587666), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“A roof (宀) + a pig (豕). In ancient times, a "house" wasn't considered a true "home" of prosperity unless there was a valuable "pig" living under the "roof."”
Connections
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · jiā
Same form: 家 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 家 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 家 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin jiā most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.