家 jiā = home

In this character we can see the “roof”, 宀 mián, and a “boar”, 豕 shĭ, under it.

The boar-compound gets more “pigsy” if you turn it counter-clockwise a quarter or so – there you can see the legs and the tail and the head! A pig is a very valuable domestic animal to Chinese, and it is understandable that only when the pig is safe under the roof can one feel like home, 家 jiā...or maybe it was like that in the good old days.

To the Chinese the word "home" means more than just a house or a flat or place to reside. Actually this word very much also includes all the people living under the same roof, and thus the word 家 jiā can be translated more broadly as "a family, household."

When a Chinese woman marries a man, it is expressed using the verb jià, 嫁. As you could see from the picture, a woman 女 nǚ is joining a family and home. Traditionally it was the woman who literally joined her husband's family, and became member of their home. When a man is marrying a woman, we could use the verb 娶 qŭ. In this character the upper part qŭ 取 means “to take, seize” (a hand 又is seizing an ear 耳 ). Below there is again the compound of a woman 女 nǚ.