SumiWhy the kanji for house has a pig in it (家)
The kanji for house, 家 (ie), is a little picture with two parts: 宀, a roof, on top, and 豕, a pig, underneath. A pig under your roof, and that’s home. It’s one of the first kanji most learners meet, and one of the strangest.
The two pieces
宀 is the roof radical. It sits on top of many kanji about buildings and shelter: 室 (shitsu), a room, 宿 (yado), an inn, 安 (an), at peace, and 宝 (takara), treasure. Look for the dot on top, like a little chimney, and the eaves on each side.
豕 is an old character for a pig. You rarely see it on its own in Japanese today, but in 家 you can still make out the animal: a head, a round body, legs and a tail. Today’s word for pig is 豚 (buta), and it keeps 豕 on its right side.
Why is there a pig in the house?
Nobody knows for certain. There are three main ideas.
- Pigs lived with the family. This is the popular explanation. In ancient China, pigs were kept right beside or under the home, so a roof with a pig meant a household. Clay models from Han-dynasty tombs, about 2,000 years old, show pig pens with a toilet built right over them.
- A pig for the ancestors. Some scholars read the oldest forms, carved on oracle bones more than 3,000 years ago, as a pig offered in an ancestral hall. The meaning would then have spread from the hall to the family that kept it.
- A sound hint. The Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary from around 100 CE, says the pig part is short for 豭, a boar, and is only there for its sound.
Whichever is right, the pig really is there, and it’s the easiest way to remember the kanji.
How to read 家
家 has several readings, and the word around it tells you which one to use.
- いえ (ie): a house, a home, as in 家に帰る (ie ni kaeru), to go home.
- うち (uchi): home, my place. In everyday writing うち is usually spelled in kana.
- か (ka) in compound words: 家族 (kazoku), family, and words for people who practise an art, like 作家 (sakka), a writer.
- や (ya): 家賃 (yachin), rent, and 大家 (ooya), a landlord.
- け (ke) after a family name: 田中家 (Tanaka-ke), the Tanaka family.
そろそろ家に帰ります。
Sorosoro ie ni kaerimasu.
I'm heading home soon.
うちは四人家族です。
Uchi wa yonin kazoku desu.
We're a family of four.
この部屋の家賃はいくらですか。
Kono heya no yachin wa ikura desu ka.
How much is the rent for this room?
母は画家です。
Haha wa gaka desu.
My mother is a painter.
Words with the same kanji
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 家族 | kazoku | family |
| 家庭 | katei | household, home life |
| 家賃 | yachin | rent |
| 作家 | sakka | writer, author |
| 画家 | gaka | painter |
| 大家 | ooya | landlord |
Remember it
Draw the roof first, then tuck the pig in underneath, out of the rain. Roof plus pig: 家, home.
The kanji in this lesson
Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.