In Chinese, however, it's not that straightforward. Beyond distinguishing between generations and genders, you must consider maternal versus paternal lineage, age relative to yours, and even whether someone is a relative by blood or marriage.
Let's start with first degree relatives.
- Parents:
- Mom is 妈妈 (māma), and wife is 老婆 (lǎopó) or more formally 妻子 (qīzi).
- Dad is 爸爸 (bàba), and husband is 老公 (lǎogōng) or more formally 丈夫 (zhàngfū).
- Siblings:
- Older brother is 哥哥 (gēgē).
- Younger brother is 弟弟 (dìdì).
- Older sister is 姐姐 (jiějiě).
- Younger sister is 妹妹 (mèimei).
- Children:
- Son is 儿子 (érzi).
- Daughter is 女儿 (nǚ'ér).
Now things get more complicated with extended family:
- Grandparents:
- Grandmother on dad's side is 奶奶 (nǎinai) or more formally 祖母 (zǔmǔ).
- Grandfather on dad's side is 爷爷 (yéyé) or more formally 祖父 (zǔfù).
- Grandmother on mom's side is 外婆 (wàipó), or more formally 外祖母 (wàizǔmǔ).
- Grandfather on mom's side is 外公 (wàigōng), or more formally 外祖父 (wàizǔfù).
Note that the names for maternal grandparents both begin with the character 外 (wài), which translates to "outside." This reflects the traditional family structure centered around the father and his surname, categorizing the mother’s relatives as belonging "outside" of the family unit.
- Uncles:
- Dad's older brother is 伯伯 (bóbo).
- Dad's younger brother is 叔叔 (shūshu).
- Dad's sister's husband is 姑丈 (gūzhàng).
- Mom's older or younger brother is 舅舅 (jiùjiu).
- Mom's sister’s husband is 姨丈 (yízhàng).
- Aunts:
- Dad's older sister is 姑妈 (gūmā).
- Dad's younger sister is 姑姑 (gūgu).
- Dad's older brother's wife is 伯母 (bómǔ).
- Dad's younger brother's wife is 婶婶 (shěnshen).
- Mom's older sister is 姨妈 (yímā).
- Mom's younger sister is 阿姨 (āyí).
- Mom's older or younger brother's wife is 舅妈 (jiùmā).
- Cousins:
- Older male cousin on dad's side is 堂哥 (táng gē).
- Older female cousin on dad's side is 堂姐 (táng jiě).
- Younger male cousin on dad's side is 堂弟 (táng dì).
- Younger female cousin on dad's side is 堂妹 (táng mèi).
- Older male cousin on mom's side (or older male child of dad's sister) is 表哥 (biǎo gē).
- Older female cousin on mom's side (or older female child of dad's sister) is 表姐 (biǎo jiě).
- Younger male cousin on mom's side (or younger male child of dad's sister) is 表弟 (biǎo dì).
- Younger female cousin on mom's side (or younger female child of dad's sister) is 表妹(biǎo mèi).
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Niece and Nephews:
- Niece on sister's side is 外甥女 (wài shēng nǚ).
- Nephew on sister's side is 外甥 (wài shēng).
- Niece on brother's side is 侄女 (zhí nǚ).
- Nephew on brother's side is 侄子 (zhízi).
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In-laws:
- A married man's mother-in-law is 岳母 (yuèmǔ).
- A married man's father-in-law is 岳父 (yuèfù).
- A married woman's mother-in-law is 婆婆 (pópo).
- A married woman's father-in-law is 公公 (gōnggong).
- Great Grandparents:
- Great grandmother on dad's side is 曾祖母 (zēng zǔ mǔ).
- Great grandfather on dad's side is 曾祖父 (zēng zǔ fù).
- Great grandmother on mom's side is 外曾祖母 (wài zēng zǔ mǔ).
- Great grandfather on mom's side is 外曾祖父 (wài zēng zǔ fù).
To complicate things further, depending on the dialect and region in China or other Chinese speaking region, some terms are different. For instance, grandmother on mom's side is 姥姥 (lǎolao) and grandfather on dad's side is 姥爷 (lǎoyé) in some northern regions of China.
What about terminology for same sex relationships? There does not exist traditional terminology in the Chinese language for same sex relationships. However, since same sex marriages have been legal in Taiwan since 2019, colloquial terms may emerge to address these relationships in the Chinese language. For example, the word “uncle” (叔叔 shúshu) is commonly used when addressing older men and the word “auntie” (阿姨 āyí) is commonly used when addressing older women, and may be appropriate to use when addressing your aunt's or uncle's same-sex spouse.
Still feeling confused? That's completely normal. If you ever struggle to recall the term for your dad’s older brother's wife, feel free to bookmark and reference this blog post, and check out August Day's Chinese family tree poster for a handy, printed aid to visualize many of these relationships.