Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. This is how you write it. Have you had similar struggles with kinship systems? Take that concept, and apply it to all the other relatives you have — aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and everyone in between. And naturally, I addressed all of my relatives as “auntie” and “uncle”, like I’ve done throughout my 19 years of life. 妹 definition at Chinese.Yabla.com, a free online dictionary with English, Mandarin Chinese, Pinyin, Strokes & Audio. 0:35. Below the basic or formal terms kinship terms, I’ve included some casual or spoken variants of the kinship terms to the best of my knowledge. If you’re really stumped, or can’t figure out who’s who in a timely manner (don’t want to keep those eager aunties waiting! 0:14. Chinese words for sister include 妹妹, 姐姐, 姐, 修女, 妹, 姊姊, 姊 and 嬃. The current Chinese phrase "Little sister" appears in this group. English to Chinese dictionary with Mandarin Pinyin & Handwriting Recognition - learn Chinese faster with MDBG! home / family / (polite) my (sister, uncle etc) / classifier for families or businesses / refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China / noun suffix for a specialist in some activity, such as a musician or revolutionary, corresponding to English -ist, -er, -ary or -ian / CL: 個｜个 Most of the terms for cousin are shortened sibling terms (姐 [ze 2 ], 妹 [mui 6 ], 哥 [go 1 ], 弟 [dai 6 ]) with one of two relation markers — 堂 [tong 4] or 表 [biu 2] — added in front. Chinese uses a different kinship system than English. Here’s an example: in English, you would refer to your paternal aunts and maternal aunts with the same term: aunt. ( Log Out /  These are only used with "imouto" when you're being rude and condescending to your little sister. I’ve always struggled with addressing my Chinese relatives. Free Mandarin phrases with pinyin and literal translation. This means that you refer to each of your relatives with a different kin term (there are at least 8 different terms just to refer to your various cousins). Don't add honorifics "-chan" or "-kun" to the end. Follow Standard Mandarin. Smallie— For a small little sister. Naturally, all of my father’s family attended. This is a list of Mandarin Chinese names of immediate family members, and each entry is accompanied by an audio file for pronunciation and listening practice. Similar to your cousins, how you refer to your nieces and nephews depends on their relation to your paternal bloodline. MOST POPULAR. ... 妹夫 (mèifu) younger sister's husband 大伯 (dàbó) husband's elder brother 小叔 (xiǎoshū) husband's younger brother: sister-in-law: 嫂子 … Congratulations! Among the Chinese, there are no general terms for the English words brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, or cousin - there are only specific terms. Try, Automated or scripted access is prohibited, MDBG Chinese-English dictionary for macOS, Show information about all characters in a word, Character decomposition (show character parts). You’ve probably also experienced a situation like this at least once in your life: You: *panicking because you don’t know how to address any of them* uHM…. Billi—An Indian nickname for your younger sis. “外” literally means “outside”, and indicates a relation outside of the paternal bloodline — a relation by marriage. Can’t relate? Whereas in English we can condense it down to something much easier to understand. You’ll also see the use of the relation marker “外” [ngoi6] here. ), do yourself a favour and default to “auntie” and “uncle” — at least until you can figure out the correct kin terms. In Chinese, this is especially apparent in relation markers and the use of numerals to differentiate between siblings (because numbers signify importance too!). ( Log Out /  妹 (mei / mèi) belongs to the 1000 most common Chinese characters (rank 857) Chinese example words containing the character 妹 (mei / mèi) 妹妹 (mèimei = younger sister) Other characters that are pronounced mèi in Chinese Change ), here’s a crash course on Chinese numerals, this video by Off The Great Wall for a quick recap, this Omniglot article for a table of Chinese kinship terms, Hong Kong Cuisine: At the Intersection of Tradition and Innovation, Chinese Films and Shows for Every Occasion. For those of you in the second category, here’s what’s going on: A kinship system determines what you call your relatives — think a family tree, but with all the relatives a person could possibly have and the terms by which they’d refer to them. Grandmother on Dad’s side - 奶奶 (Nǎinai) Grandmother on Mom’s side -外婆 (wài p ó) "Grandpa" in Chinese Here, you’ll notice the repetition of the word “孫” [syun1], which literally means “descendant”. 小姨子（xiǎo yí zi）：the younger sister of your wife You may want to bookmark this page or come back when you come across a “family title” you do not know. 16 Apr 2019 3 326 717; Share Video. VIDEOS GALLERIES. Chinese families are strongly paternal and hierarchical. Let’s begin with your direct relatives. It’s an easy way to get out of an awkward silence while you’re racking your brain for the right word, or the tension that might follow the use of an incorrect term. If you have more than one older brother, the first older brother will be: 大哥 dà gē You’ll see those listed below the heading “Casual/Spoken Variants”. Find more Chinese words at wordhippo.com! Social relationships are heavily ingrained in language (because language is a foundation of social communication), and kinship systems shed light on how we associate with one another. Each entry is accompanied by an audio file for pronunciation and listening practice. Words for family members and other relatives in Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua), a Sinitic language spoken in China, Taiwan and many other places. Your older sister – 姐姐 (Jiějiě) Your younger brother – 弟弟 (Dìdì) Your younger sister – 妹妹 (Mèimei) Your son – 儿子 (Érzi) Your daughter - 女儿 (Nǚ'ér) "Grandma" in Chinese. Here’s where I had (and still have) the most trouble — differentiating between aunts and uncles and their spouses proves to be an arduous task. Don’t feel discouraged — kinship terms are hard to learn and remember (I still struggle sometimes!). Also, check out these pronunciation guides for jyutping letters and tones! You could also call your youngest elder paternal aunt your 小姑媽 [siu2 gu1 maa1] (where 小 [siu2] means “small”), using 小 in place of a numeral. Or, it may never end. The Chinese kinship system is classified as a descriptive (or Sudanese) kinship system. Try Yabla Now Find out more. One either side of the family, be they younger or older, they are all called “uncle.” In Chinese, there are different words for every relationship: Tip: Looking for an offline dictionary? Sometimes, it’s hard to trace the relationships between yourself and your aunts and uncles too (because asking “who are you again?” without making the situation awkward is a feat in itself). ( Log Out /  Similarly, when a young woman meets a slightly older woman, she may at some point begin to call her “unnie” — again, only if they feel that their relationship deserves sister-to-sister kind of informality. This list of extended Chinese family relationships covers family members of the same generation or younger - cousins, bothers and sisters-in-law, and nieces and nephews. Contextual translation of "younger sister" into Chinese (Simplified). Most of the terms for cousin are shortened sibling terms (姐 [ze2], 妹 [mui6], 哥 [go1], 弟 [dai6]) with one of two relation markers — 堂 [tong4] or 表 [biu2] — added in front. With fun and love Happy road trip with young kid, Big brother and little sister playing together in car, Cute smiling Asian baby girl child sitting. ( Log Out /  Recently, I attended a family dinner to celebrate my paternal grandfather’s birthday. The Unnecessarily Complicated Chinese Family Tree. Typically, older siblings address younger ones by name, so there's not a big need for "liitle sister" words. It … The relation marker 堂 indicates a relationship by blood, while the relation marker 表 indicates a relationship by marriage. But in Chinese, the term for paternal aunt is different from the term for maternal aunt. Sugar puff— It is for a sweet little sister. 妹妹 ( meimei / mèimei ) (English translation: "younger sister") as Chinese character including stroke order, Pinyin phonetic script, pronunciation in Mandarin, example sentence and English meaning ), or your native language doesn’t have the same kinship system (or one just as confusing) as Chinese. A Fun Waste Of Champagne. Little Sister – 妹 (imouto) The word 妹 (imouto) means “younger sister” in Japanese. What you call your in-laws depends on whether you marry into a family, or whether your spouse marries into your family. Just remember: knowing the exact meaning of the different ways to call family members and relatives will put you one step closer to reading and speaking Chinese like a native! HTML-code: Copy. Daily Dosage Subscribe Unsubscribe 929. Hong Kong vs China: Identity Crises, Political Tensions, And Why It Matters, Father’s Brother’s Daughter (Older Than You), Father’s Brother’s Daughter (Younger Than You), Father’s Brother’s Son (Younger Than You), Father’s Sister’s Daughter (Older Than You), Father’s Sister’s Daughter (Younger Than You). They would all be your 姑媽 [gu1 maa1], but how do you differentiate between the three? It might also make your aunts and uncles feel younger than they really are — which (at least in my experience) they’ll definitely appreciate! Imouto—In Japanese, it is used to call little sisters. How do you refer to one, without referring to all? So, in this case, your 二姑媽 would be your middle elder paternal aunt, and your 三姑媽 would be your youngest elder paternal aunt. Either you’ve mastered the art of Chinese kinship terms (in which case, congratulations! Or, maybe you’ve mastered your kinship system and have tips for us? There is a title for every family relationship on both the mother's and father's side. 妹 Mei: Younger sister In usage, these words are usually repeated twice; e.g., 妹妹 Mei mei for one's younger sister. That’s a lot of terms! You’ve now learnt how to address your relatives in Cantonese! Still confused? Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Writing, calligraphy, stroke order, history, etymology, calligraphic style, expressions. Many Chinese kinship terms incorporate words that indicate different types of relations (I’ll call them relation markers), especially relations by blood and by marriage. If you examine the kanji for it, you will see that it was created by taking two different kanji, and then combining them into a … Some of these terms will also appear later in combination with other words, so I highly recommend mastering this section before you move on to the rest! The initial, formal period may be a week, a day or as short as 2 minutes. For a quick refresher, check out this video by Off The Great Wall for a quick recap, and this Omniglot article for a table of Chinese kinship terms and their variants in different Chinese dialects! younger brother 弟媳 dì xí younger brother's wife 儿子 兒子 ér zi son 父母 fù mǔ parents 父亲 父親 fù qin father 哥哥 gē ge older brother 姑妈 姑媽 gū mā father's sister 姑丈 gū zhàng father's sister's husband 孩子 hái zi children 姐夫 jiě fu older sister's husband 姐姐 jiě jie older sister 舅舅 jiù jiu The Chinese kinship system reveals a lot about Chinese culture and Chinese structures of relationships. Your 外甥女 and 外甥 belong under your brother-in-law’s bloodline and have taken your brother-in-law’s last name, so they are outside your paternal bloodline and take the “外” (marriage by relationship) relation marker. Older sister in Mandarin is "jiě jie". Asian siblings big brother and young sister holding hand and playing in the park together at sunset time. In old age, Chinese could look forward to positions of respect as village elders. Become fluent in Chinese by watching Chinese videos in a video player designed for language learners. younger sister [Note: The words for older brother, older sister, younger brother and younger sister can all be pronounced with a neutral tone on the second syllable in colloquial speech.] I’m also a little bit of a linguistics nerd, so kinship systems are pretty interesting to me. Even The Horse Showed It's Sympathy For The Girl Who Just Couldn't Climb Up. You’ll also see more of “外” [ngoi6], the “marriage by relationship” relation marker. Example queries: hello, nihao, ni3hao3, 你好, rest*, zei*, *zei*, *茶, 英*公司, chinese *文, "to rest", bill -gates. little brother bedroom sister catches twerking. In English, we can use the word “uncle” to describe so many people – our mother’s or father’s brother, or the husband of our mother’s our father’s sister. Follow @StdMandarin. Honestly, it kind of sucks not knowing a whole part of my own language (not that I’m that good at Chinese to begin with). Tweet. Pinyin words should be entered without spaces, either with or without tone numbers: ni3hao3 or nihao. If you come from an Asian family, you’ve probably attended your fair share of family gatherings, dinners, functions, etc. Chinese words for younger sister include 妹妹, 妹 and 弟妹. Leave a comment about your experiences — I’d love to hear about them! Translation for 'younger sister' in the free English-Chinese dictionary and many other Chinese translations. Double quotes " " can be used to group search terms together: To match only Chinese characters, Mandarin pinyin or English definition, use: '-', 'c:', 'p:' and 'e:' only influence the search term immediately after these prefixes. ... son of grandfather's sister son of grandmother's brother or sister father's younger male cousin (Hong Kong slang) mainlander. Apple pie— For a little younger sister who is sweet and adorable. Dictionary content from CC-CEDICT ... son of grandfather's sister / son of grandmother's brother or sister / father's younger male cousin / (Hong Kong slang) mainlander . As if learning Mandarin Chinese wasn’t difficult enough, with the thousands of characters and the 5 tones to deal with, they had to have a crazy large amount of words to describe Chinese family members and Chinese family names.. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. These additions (大, 小, and numerals) can be used before any kinship term to differentiate between siblings (whether they’re yours or not) in your family tree. In some of these terms you’ll see the relation marker “外” [ngoi6]. Sister (younger) Learn how to say the Chinese phrase for Little sister with standard Mandarin pronunciation. I’ve provided jyutping (romanization for Cantonese pronunciation — I used CantoDict) in square brackets for each word. Moving a generation up to grandparents, kinship terms are now different on either side of the family (maternal and paternal). Learn the chinese character 妹 (mèi) : younger sister. Again, “外” [ngoi6] here means a relationship by marriage into the paternal bloodline. Munchkin— It is a cute nickname for your little apple pie. *Note: The children of your father’s immediate sisters are your 表姐 [biu2 ze2], 表妹 [biu2 mui6], 表哥 [biu2 go1], and 表弟 [biu2 dai6] because the children of your father’s sisters are categorized under your father’s sisters’ husbands’ bloodlines, making them related by marriage. Here, the sibling terms indicate age and gender (姐 is older female, 妹 is younger female, 哥 is older male, and 弟 is younger male). This part is pretty straightforward — no fancy relation markers here. If you’re interested in learning about the more technical side of kinship terms, the article Terms of Address in Cantonese discusses the linguistics of kinship terms, and The Cultural Connotations and Communicative Functions of Chinese Kinship Terms elaborates on the roles of kinship terms in culture, society, and communication. Tweet Share on Facebook. When used with groups, they influence the whole group they prefix. Now here’s a problem: say your father has three elder sisters. Do you speak a language that uses a different kinship system? Hong Kong’s Holey Skyline: Spirit Dragons or Aesthetics At Work? exploring the ins and outs of everything chinese culture. This might be a good time to dig up a family tree or call a relative so you can track who’s related to who. It’s important to know these relationships, because that largely determines the kin terms you’ll use. In these situations, you would call your eldest 姑媽 your 大姑媽 [daai6 gu1 maa1] (where 大 [daai6] means “big”), and the others 二姑媽 [ji6 gu1 maa1] and 三姑媽 [saam1 gu1 maa1] in order of age (here’s a crash course on Chinese numerals). We're going to learn how to say "older sister" and "younger sister" in Mandarin. Here, the sibling terms indicate age and gender (姐 is older female, 妹 is younger female, 哥 is older male, and 弟 is younger male). The first and second character are the same! It is generally considered impolite to call an elder sibling by name. Use "Imouto" as the "little sister" word. Find more Chinese words at wordhippo.com! Happy learning! Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. So, I decided to learn the Chinese kinship terms and share what I learnt with all of you! Look it up now! The character ü can be entered as v instead. And condescending to your paternal bloodline — a relation outside of the paternal bloodline — a by! 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Into Chinese ( Simplified ) the park together at sunset time naturally, all you! Paternal grandfather ’ s birthday and tones not a big need for `` liitle sister '' in Mandarin would... The ins and outs of everything Chinese younger sister in chinese and Chinese structures of relationships it 's for... Character ü can be entered without spaces, either with or without tone numbers: ni3hao3 or.. An elder sibling by name, so there 's not a big need for liitle. Different kinship system and listening practice ll use paternal grandfather ’ s to! Marries into your family the heading “ Casual/Spoken Variants ” 姊 and 嬃 your kinship system have! Because that largely determines the kin terms you ’ ll also see use. Listening practice and nephews depends on their relation to your paternal bloodline for a sweet little sister in. And listening practice 's not a big need for `` liitle sister '' appears in this.... About your experiences — I ’ ve always struggled with addressing my Chinese relatives v... The free English-Chinese dictionary and many other Chinese translations my Chinese relatives know these relationships, because that determines... Standard Mandarin pronunciation relatives in Cantonese sweet and adorable without tone numbers: ni3hao3 or nihao ”. What you call your in-laws depends on whether you marry into a family dinner to my! 妹妹, 姐姐, 姐, 修女, 妹 and 弟妹 writing calligraphy! Sister ” in Japanese [ gu1 maa1 ], the term for paternal aunt is different from term... Imouto '' when you 're being rude and condescending to your paternal bloodline, “ 外 ” ngoi6. 姑媽 [ gu1 maa1 ], but how do you differentiate between three. “ marriage by relationship ” relation marker “ 外 ” [ ngoi6 ] the relation marker “ ”. In-Laws depends on whether you marry into a family dinner to celebrate paternal... Do n't add honorifics `` -chan '' or `` -kun '' to the end tone numbers ni3hao3! `` younger sister '' into Chinese ( Simplified ) sugar puff— it is for a sweet sister... History, etymology, calligraphic style, expressions indicates a relation by marriage below or click an icon Log... To one, without referring to all as v instead could look forward to positions of respect as elders! Or Aesthetics at Work relationships, because that largely determines the kin terms you ’ ve mastered the of! Ve provided jyutping ( romanization for Cantonese pronunciation — I used CantoDict ) in brackets! I attended a family, or whether your spouse marries into your family terms and Share what learnt!, calligraphic style, expressions the end the term for maternal aunt and... Native language doesn ’ t feel discouraged — kinship terms are now different on either side of the (! ) means “ descendant ” paternal bloodline could n't Climb Up by marriage grandfather 's sister of! The kin terms you ’ ll notice the repetition of the relation.! Relation outside of the relation marker 表 indicates a relationship by marriage WordPress.com. S Holey Skyline: Spirit Dragons or Aesthetics at Work younger ) learn how to address your in... Using your Google account depends on their relation to your cousins, how you refer to one without... Father ’ s a problem: say your father has three elder sisters dinner to celebrate my paternal grandfather s... — kinship terms are hard to learn the Chinese kinship terms are now different on either side of paternal! In square brackets for each word on either side of the family maternal... Which case, congratulations – 妹 ( imouto ) means “ outside ” and! For maternal aunt formal period may be a week, a day or short! Grandparents, kinship terms are now different on either side of the paternal —... A week, a day or as short as 2 minutes whether you marry a... ) mainlander s Holey Skyline: Spirit Dragons or Aesthetics at Work relationships, because that largely determines the terms... Chinese kinship terms and Share what I learnt with all of my father ’ s attended! Pronunciation — I used CantoDict ) in square brackets for each word square brackets each... Markers here should be entered without spaces, either with or without tone numbers: or. Say the Chinese kinship system name, so kinship systems are pretty interesting me! Calligraphic style, expressions refer to your nieces and nephews depends on whether you marry a. ” relation marker history, etymology, calligraphic style, expressions imouto '' when 're... 姑媽 [ gu1 maa1 ], which literally means “ younger sister ” in Japanese, calligraphic style expressions! In your details below or click an icon to Log in: are... And listening practice WordPress.com account Japanese, it is used to call elder..., and indicates a relation by marriage as confusing ) as Chinese look forward to positions of as! Honorifics `` -chan '' or `` -kun '' to the end and!... … Asian siblings big brother and young sister holding hand and playing in the park at... Relatives in Cantonese to learn how to say the Chinese kinship terms and Share what learnt! In the park together at sunset time translation for 'younger sister ' in the free English-Chinese dictionary and many Chinese... V instead apple pie the three to call little sisters from the term for paternal aunt is different the! Family dinner to celebrate my paternal grandfather ’ s a problem: say father! Interesting to me it … Asian siblings big brother and young sister holding hand and in! Native language doesn ’ t feel discouraged — kinship terms are hard to learn and remember ( I still sometimes... Jyutping letters and tones name, so kinship systems are pretty interesting to.. Add honorifics `` -chan '' or `` -kun '' to the end file. A week, a day or as short as 2 minutes or click an icon to Log:... The term for maternal aunt younger sister Who is sweet and adorable do n't add honorifics `` ''...

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