～家
～か · ～ka · JLPT N4 · noun
inch
🏠 家 = house: a house of expertise, so 作家 = writing-house = writer
家 literally means house or family. As a suffix read か, it marks someone whose whole household is one craft: 画家 painter, 音楽家 musician, 専門家 expert. Sound hook: ka as in career.
家 — roof 宀 + pig 豕
Originally a pictograph of a pig under a roof, since domesticated pigs were kept in or under the home in ancient China. Over time the meaning broadened from 'household' to 'family,' and by extension 'home' or a specialist (as in 专家, 'expert').
～け · ～ke · JLPT N2 · noun
family
🏠👪 家 = roof 宀 + pig 豕: a household. Tanaka-ke means the Tanaka family
As a suffix after a surname, 家 is read ke and names the whole family line, e.g. 徳川家 (Tokugawa-ke), the Tokugawa clan. On its own, 家 is read ie or uchi and means house or home. A hook for the sound: ke, as in kin.
家 — roof 宀 + pig 豕
Originally a pictograph of a pig under a roof, since domesticated pigs were kept in or under the home in ancient China. Over time the meaning broadened from 'household' to 'family,' and by extension 'home' or a specialist (as in 专家, 'expert').