借

Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 借 (jiè) is composed of two parts: 亻(rén) and 賈 (jiǎ). The radical 亻(rén) indicates that the character is related to a person or human activity. The phonetic component 賈 (jiǎ) is a simplified form of the character 價 (jià), which means "price" or "value". Together, these two components suggest the idea of "borrowing" or "renting" something, as in the case of borrowing money or renting a car.The character 借 has a long history in Chinese culture and has been used in a variety of contexts. In ancient times, it was often used in legal documents and contracts to indicate that one party was borrowing something from another. It was also used in commercial transactions to indicate that goods were being sold on credit. In modern times, the character 借 is still used in these contexts, but it is also used more broadly to refer to any kind of borrowing or lending, including borrowing money from a friend or renting a book from a library.The character 借 is a versatile character that can be used in a variety of contexts. It is an important character for HSK learners to know, as it is used frequently in both written and spoken Chinese.