Thank you again to everyone who got interested in Chinese language. Today we are studying another very interesting and important character in Chinese language. The character 家 (jiā) - семья, дом. This character consists of two parts. First part is 豕 (shǐ) - свинья, 宀 (miān). 豕 (shǐ) - means pig or wine, and can be used separately as independent character. 宀 - can't be used by itself and can be just as a part of other characters, it is called radical, and it means roof.
The first pictogram of the house in China was an image of a pig under the roof. The character changed a bit its appearance but still it us the same meaning a pig under roof means family or house.
There are several versions of why exactly the pig 🐖 under the roof means house or family and not the person. It would be logical for modern people to put person under roof. One of the explanations is that they had animal husbandry. In the past the pigs live in the house with humans. The house with pigs inevitably meant a house with humans.
The other explanation is that the pigs were brought for sacrifiction to family ancestors, especially during Chinese New Year. That's why it means respect to the family.
家 (jiā) - is pronounced with first tone.
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 members