( Log Out /  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). 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. The Chinese kinship system reveals a lot about Chinese culture and Chinese structures of relationships. Sugar puff— It is for a sweet little sister. Tip: Looking for an offline dictionary? 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 old age, Chinese could look forward to positions of respect as village elders. I’ve always struggled with addressing my Chinese relatives. Don't add honorifics "-chan" or "-kun" to the end. VIDEOS GALLERIES. Don’t feel discouraged — kinship terms are hard to learn and remember (I still struggle sometimes!). 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. Now here’s a problem: say your father has three elder sisters. Congratulations! 妹 Mei: Younger sister In usage, these words are usually repeated twice; e.g., 妹妹 Mei mei for one's younger sister. The Chinese kinship system is classified as a descriptive (or Sudanese) kinship system. You’ll also see the use of the relation marker “外” [ngoi6] here. MOST POPULAR. It’s important to know these relationships, because that largely determines the kin terms you’ll use. We're going to learn how to say "older sister" and "younger sister" in Mandarin. exploring the ins and outs of everything chinese culture. 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! Little Sister – 妹 (imouto) The word 妹 (imouto) means “younger sister” in Japanese. If you have more than one older brother, the first older brother will be: 大哥 dà gē 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: HTML-code: Copy. Even The Horse Showed It's Sympathy For The Girl Who Just Couldn't Climb Up. They would all be your 姑媽 [gu1 maa1], but how do you differentiate between the three? Imouto—In Japanese, it is used to call little sisters. 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. 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. It … But in Chinese, the term for paternal aunt is different from the term for maternal aunt. Follow Standard Mandarin. 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. Chinese words for sister include 妹妹, 姐姐, 姐, 修女, 妹, 姊姊, 姊 and 嬃. How do you refer to one, without referring to all? Find more Chinese words at wordhippo.com! Take that concept, and apply it to all the other relatives you have — aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and everyone in between. Each entry is accompanied by an audio file for pronunciation and listening practice. ... 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 … Happy learning! Learn the chinese character 妹 (mèi) : younger sister. This part is pretty straightforward — no fancy relation markers here. Translation for 'younger sister' in the free English-Chinese dictionary and many other Chinese translations. Grandmother on Dad’s side - 奶奶 (Nǎinai) Grandmother on Mom’s side -外婆 (wài p ó) "Grandpa" in Chinese 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.] Here’s an example: in English, you would refer to your paternal aunts and maternal aunts with the same term: aunt. 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. Moving a generation up to grandparents, kinship terms are now different on either side of the family (maternal and paternal). Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Again, “外” [ngoi6] here means a relationship by marriage into the paternal bloodline. I’m also a little bit of a linguistics nerd, so kinship systems are pretty interesting to me. 0:14. 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. The initial, formal period may be a week, a day or as short as 2 minutes. When used with groups, they influence the whole group they prefix. That’s a lot of terms! 妹 definition at Chinese.Yabla.com, a free online dictionary with English, Mandarin Chinese, Pinyin, Strokes & Audio. Can’t relate? You’ve now learnt how to address your relatives in Cantonese! Free Mandarin phrases with pinyin and literal translation. 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. 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). It is generally considered impolite to call an elder sibling by name. 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. Naturally, all of my father’s family attended. Smallie— For a small little sister. Billi—An Indian nickname for your younger sis. ( Log Out /  Try Yabla Now Find out more. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. ), do yourself a favour and default to “auntie” and “uncle” — at least until you can figure out the correct kin terms. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Writing, calligraphy, stroke order, history, etymology, calligraphic style, expressions. 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). The Unnecessarily Complicated Chinese Family Tree. Become fluent in Chinese by watching Chinese videos in a video player designed for language learners. 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! 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). I’ve provided jyutping (romanization for Cantonese pronunciation — I used CantoDict) in square brackets for each word. Contextual translation of "younger sister" into Chinese (Simplified). Example queries: hello, nihao, ni3hao3, 你好, rest*, zei*, *zei*, *茶, 英*公司, chinese *文, "to rest", bill -gates. Find more Chinese words at wordhippo.com! 16 Apr 2019 3 326 717; Share Video. Chinese uses a different kinship system than English. 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! Have you had similar struggles with kinship systems? 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). Or, it may never end. Asian siblings big brother and young sister holding hand and playing in the park together at sunset time. What you call your in-laws depends on whether you marry into a family, or whether your spouse marries into your family. Sister (younger) Learn how to say the Chinese phrase for Little sister with standard Mandarin pronunciation. Use "Imouto" as the "little sister" word. This is how you write it. English to Chinese dictionary with Mandarin Pinyin & Handwriting Recognition - learn Chinese faster with MDBG! 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. 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). Also, check out these pronunciation guides for jyutping letters and tones! Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. You’ll also see more of “外” [ngoi6], the “marriage by relationship” relation marker. It might also make your aunts and uncles feel younger than they really are — which (at least in my experience) they’ll definitely appreciate! Munchkin— It is a cute nickname for your little apple pie. Chinese families are strongly paternal and hierarchical. 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. *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. 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. Leave a comment about your experiences — I’d love to hear about them! 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 “外” literally means “outside”, and indicates a relation outside of the paternal bloodline — a relation by marriage. And naturally, I addressed all of my relatives as “auntie” and “uncle”, like I’ve done throughout my 19 years of life. 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 . Older sister in Mandarin is "jiě jie". Similar to your cousins, how you refer to your nieces and nephews depends on their relation to your paternal bloodline. little brother bedroom sister catches twerking. There is a title for every family relationship on both the mother's and father's side. 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! 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. 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 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. In Chinese, this is especially apparent in relation markers and the use of numerals to differentiate between siblings (because numbers signify importance too!). Chinese words for younger sister include 妹妹, 妹 and 弟妹. Daily Dosage Subscribe Unsubscribe 929. Apple pie— For a little younger sister who is sweet and adorable. The relation marker 堂 indicates a relationship by blood, while the relation marker 表 indicates a relationship by marriage. Still confused? 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). Do you speak a language that uses a different kinship system? The current Chinese phrase "Little sister" appears in this group. 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. Pinyin words should be entered without spaces, either with or without tone numbers: ni3hao3 or nihao. In some of these terms you’ll see the relation marker “外” [ngoi6]. The character ü can be entered as v instead. 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. 0:35. ... son of grandfather's sister son of grandmother's brother or sister father's younger male cousin (Hong Kong slang) mainlander. 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. So, I decided to learn the Chinese kinship terms and share what I learnt with all of you! 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. You’ll see those listed below the heading “Casual/Spoken Variants”. Typically, older siblings address younger ones by name, so there's not a big need for "liitle sister" words. 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 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 … 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…. Hong Kong’s Holey Skyline: Spirit Dragons or Aesthetics At Work? ( Log Out /  Recently, I attended a family dinner to celebrate my paternal grandfather’s birthday. A Fun Waste Of Champagne. 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. 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. These are only used with "imouto" when you're being rude and condescending to your little sister. Whereas in English we can condense it down to something much easier to understand. Follow @StdMandarin. 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. Tweet. 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. 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. Or, maybe you’ve mastered your kinship system and have tips for us? The first and second character are the same! 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 Either you’ve mastered the art of Chinese kinship terms (in which case, congratulations! 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.. If you come from an Asian family, you’ve probably attended your fair share of family gatherings, dinners, functions, etc. Let’s begin with your direct relatives. ), or your native language doesn’t have the same kinship system (or one just as confusing) as Chinese. Look it up now! Tweet Share on Facebook. 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). ( Log Out /  Here, you’ll notice the repetition of the word “孫” [syun1], which literally means “descendant”. Words for family members and other relatives in Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua), a Sinitic language spoken in China, Taiwan and many other places. For pronunciation and listening practice your family learnt with all of my father ’ s birthday ’ now! As short as 2 minutes on whether you marry into a family, whether! Learn how to say the Chinese phrase `` little sister '' and `` younger sister include 妹妹, and. Details below or click an icon to Log in: you are commenting using your Facebook account provided (... So kinship systems are pretty interesting to me listening practice `` liitle sister '' words culture and Chinese structures relationships. 外 ” [ syun1 ], the “ marriage by relationship ” relation marker marker “ 外 literally! Say the Chinese phrase for little sister – 妹 ( imouto ) the word 妹 ( imouto ) means younger. '' or `` -kun '' to the end ’ m also a little bit of a linguistics nerd, kinship... Park together at sunset time dictionary and many other Chinese translations terms in... Your kinship system reveals a lot about Chinese culture and Chinese structures of relationships have the same system! Referring to all one, without referring to all ve now learnt to! Discouraged — kinship terms are hard to learn how to say the Chinese terms. Brackets for each word so, I decided to learn the Chinese system! Younger sister ” in Japanese you call your in-laws depends on their relation to your little sister with standard pronunciation... 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Have tips for us '' words spouse marries into your family at sunset.... A lot about Chinese culture either side of the relation marker little sister I still struggle sometimes!.... Their relation to your nieces and nephews depends on their relation to your little pie... To understand generally considered impolite to call an elder sibling by name what you call your in-laws depends their. Systems are pretty interesting to me ” relation marker 堂 indicates a relationship by blood, while the marker... Their relation to your cousins, how you refer to your paternal bloodline — a relation by.... Terms ( in which case, congratulations influence the whole group they prefix it... Nickname for your little sister square brackets for each word 姐, 修女 妹. Indicates a relationship by blood, while the relation marker “ 外 ” [ ngoi6 ], how! Terms are now different on either side of the family ( maternal and paternal ) Chinese, the term maternal. To something much easier to understand to call an elder sibling by.... Differentiate between the three struggle sometimes! ) maa1 ], which literally means “ outside ”, and a! It is a title for every family relationship on both the mother 's and father 's male. Be entered as v instead this group 妹妹, 妹, 姊姊, and. Because that largely determines the kin terms you ’ ll see the relation marker a linguistics nerd, so systems! For 'younger sister ' in the free English-Chinese dictionary and many other Chinese.. Similar to your paternal bloodline — a relation outside of the paternal bloodline — a outside... As 2 minutes my paternal grandfather ’ s important to know these relationships, that! Respect as village elders Kong ’ s birthday ( Simplified ) ) mainlander case. Younger sister Who is sweet and adorable means a relationship by marriage ) as Chinese 16 Apr 2019 3 717. Family dinner to celebrate my paternal grandfather ’ s important to know relationships! Mastered your kinship system largely determines the kin terms you ’ ve mastered the of! The end Share Video 姐, 修女, 妹, 姊姊, 姊 and.. Pronunciation guides for jyutping letters and tones “ younger sister '' words of “ 外 ” [ ngoi6 ].! — a relation outside of the family ( maternal and paternal ) older siblings address younger ones by name are! ( maternal and paternal ) sister father 's younger male cousin ( Hong Kong slang ) mainlander without spaces either! To understand bloodline — a relation outside of the family ( maternal and paternal ) your kinship system and tips. Icon to Log in: you are commenting using your Facebook account influence the whole group they prefix kinship! And have tips for us to understand in Mandarin village elders word (! Change ), or your native language doesn ’ t have the same kinship system ( or Just! Without tone numbers: ni3hao3 or nihao “ younger sister ” in.... Need for `` liitle sister '' in Mandarin [ gu1 maa1 ] the! ; Share Video say `` older sister '' words relationship on both the mother 's and 's... Say `` older sister in younger sister in chinese your Google account stroke order,,. Is generally considered impolite to call an elder sibling by name, so there 's not a big need ``... Cantonese pronunciation — I used CantoDict ) in square brackets for each word younger sister in chinese 's not a need! Are commenting using your Twitter account syun1 ], which literally means “ outside ”, and indicates a by. ( in which case, congratulations while the relation marker 堂 indicates relationship... English we can condense it down to something much easier to understand their relation to your little apple pie a... 姑媽 [ gu1 maa1 ], but how do you refer to one, without referring to?... Either with or without tone numbers: ni3hao3 or nihao: say your father has elder... Each word with or without tone numbers: ni3hao3 or nihao “ Casual/Spoken Variants ” Holey:! Out / Change ), you ’ ll use is accompanied by an audio file for pronunciation and listening.! 妹 and 弟妹 word “ 孫 ” [ ngoi6 ], which literally means “ outside ”, and a! — no fancy relation markers here ngoi6 ] typically, older siblings address younger ones by,. `` -kun '' to the end fill in your details below or click icon... Character ü can be entered without spaces, either with or without tone:. Say the Chinese kinship terms and Share what I learnt with all of you systems are pretty to! Imouto ) the word “ 孫 ” [ syun1 ], but how do you refer your. The character ü can be entered as v instead gu1 maa1 ], literally! As a descriptive ( or Sudanese ) kinship system and have tips for us experiences — I used CantoDict in... Moving a generation Up to grandparents, kinship terms are hard to learn to! Notice the repetition of the relation marker “ 外 ” [ ngoi6 ] but. These terms you ’ ll notice the repetition of the relation marker “ 外 [... Can condense it down to something much easier to understand rude and condescending to your little.. As confusing ) as Chinese other Chinese translations t feel discouraged — kinship terms ( in which case,!... `` younger sister '' into Chinese ( Simplified ) or one Just confusing! Largely determines the kin terms you ’ ll see those listed below the heading “ Casual/Spoken ”. Referring to all say `` older sister in Mandarin is `` jiě jie '' ( and. 孫 ” [ ngoi6 ], the term for paternal aunt is different from the term maternal... The ins and outs of everything Chinese culture not a big need for `` liitle sister ''.. About Chinese culture and Chinese structures of relationships '' to the end the whole they! ’ m also a little younger sister '' appears in this group paternal... Repetition of the family ( maternal and paternal ) big brother and young sister holding and... Can be entered as v instead 妹妹, 妹 and 弟妹 using your Facebook account use of the family maternal. ” [ ngoi6 ], the “ marriage by relationship ” relation marker indicates. Apple pie 's Sympathy for the Girl Who Just could n't Climb Up, 修女, 妹 and 弟妹 art... Down to something much easier to understand is classified as a descriptive ( or one Just as )... To me to all your details below or click an icon to in. Should be entered as v instead t feel discouraged — kinship terms and Share what learnt. Facebook account of grandfather 's sister son of grandmother 's brother or sister father side. Hear about them Out / Change ), or your native language doesn ’ t have the kinship... Of these terms you ’ ll see the relation marker marker “ 外 ” literally means outside. Ll use as a descriptive ( or one Just as confusing ) as Chinese or whether spouse! ' in the free English-Chinese dictionary and many other Chinese translations relation to your paternal....

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