嫁

jià

女 + 家

HSK 2.0Level 5

HSK 3.0Level 6

Definitions

jià (verb) (of a woman) to marry; to get married

jià (verb) to marry off (a daughter)

jià (verb) to shift; to pass on (blame, responsibility)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 家 represents the sound.

Semantic: 女 Phonetic: 家

About

嫁 is a phono-semantic compound: 女 (nǚ) 'woman' conveys the meaning, and 家 (jiā) supplies the sound. The phonetic 家 itself means 'home', which fits the traditional sense of a woman leaving her natal family to marry into her husband's household. The term applies exclusively to a woman taking a husband, distinguishing it from characters for a man's marriage or the institution of marriage in general. Figuratively, it can also mean shifting blame or offloading a burden onto someone else.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

姐姐出嫁了。

Jiějie chūjià le.

Elder sister got married.

她嫁给了好朋友。

Tā jiàgěi le hǎo péngyou.

She married her good friend.

妹妹想嫁到国外。

Mèimei xiǎng jià dào guówài.

Younger sister wants to marry abroad.

女儿出嫁时哭了。

Nǚ'ér chūjià shí kū le.

The daughter cried when she got married.

她嫁入了一个富裕家庭。

Tā jiàrù le yīgè fùyù jiātíng.

She married into a wealthy family.

嫁对人是一生幸福的关键。

Jià duì rén shì yīshēng xìngfú de guānjiàn.

Marrying the right person is key to lifelong happiness.

她宁愿不嫁也不将就。

Tā nìngyuàn bù jià yě bù jiāngjiù.

She would rather not marry than settle.

现代女性对婚姻有自主权，嫁不嫁由自己决定。

Xiàndài nǚxìng duì hūnyīn yǒu zìzhǔquán, jià bù jià yóu zìjǐ juédìng.

Modern women have autonomy over marriage, and whether to marry is up to themselves.

Related Characters

Component: 女

Component: 家

嫁