Dong Chinese dictionary

jiā

good, beautiful

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 圭 represents the sound.

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén

person

亻 is a component form of 人.

圭 Sound component

guī

jade pointed at top

佳 and 圭 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.佳 /*[k]ˤre/
圭 /*[k]ʷˤe/

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

jiā

good, auspicious; beautiful; delightful; fine; good

Jiā

surname Jia

Most common words with 佳

Sources