~家

The suffix 家(gaa1) is used to create nouns showing person(s) that are either:

• a specialist / expert in their respective area.
• in certain jobs, groups or social standing.

Let’s start with examples for specialist / experts in their respective area:

Field	Person
科學(fo1 hok6) science	科學家(fo1 hok6 gaa1) scientist
畫(waa2) to paint/draw	畫家(waa2 gaa1)1 painter
鋼琴(gong3 kam4) piano	鋼琴家(gong3 kam4 gaa1) piantist

And here are some examples for certain jobs, groups or social standings:

• 商家(soeng1 gaa1)
  Merchant
• 船家(syun4 gaa1)
  Boatman
• 仇家(sau4 gaa1)
  Enemy
• 老人家(lou5 jan4 gaa1)
  Seniors

I suppose with the exception of 仇家 these are pretty polite ways of address someone. Come to think of it how did 仇家 ended up here?

Footnotes

1. Not to be confused with 畫架(waa2 gaa3) which is an easel. ↩