Family Terms

Within families people often refer to one another by their relational title rather than their name. This often extends outside the family, with people applying generic terms for "brother", "sister", "uncle", "aunt", etc. to strangers, in part to establish accepted social relationships based upon age and status.

fu⁴ mu³	parents	父母	xiao³ hai² zi	children	小孩子
fu⁴ mu³qin¹	parents	父母親	er² tong²	children	儿童
ba⁴ ba^2*	Dad	爸爸	er² zi	son	儿子
ma¹ ma¹	Mom	妈妈	nuu¹ er²	daughter	女儿
fu⁴ qin¹	Father	父亲	xiong¹ di⁴	brother (general)	兄弟
mu⁴ qin¹	Mother	母亲	ge¹ ge¹	brother (older)	哥哥
shu² shu²	uncle (general) (father's younger brother)	叔叔	da⁴ ge¹	brother (older)	大哥
bo² fu⁴	uncle (father's older brother)	伯父	di⁴ di⁴	brother (younger)	弟弟
	uncle (mother's brother)		jie³ mei⁴	sister (general)	姐妹
a¹ yi²	aunt (general) (mother's younger sister)	阿姨	jie³ jie³	sister (older)	姐姐
gu¹ ma¹	aunt (father's older sister)	姑妈	mei⁴ mei^2*	sister (younger)	妹妹
gu¹ jie³	aunt (father's younger sister)	姑姐	biao³ ge¹	cousin (older male)	表哥
yi² ma¹	aunt (mother's older sister)	姨妈	biao³ di⁴	cousin (younger male)	表弟
ye² ye²	grandfather (father's father)	爷爷	biao³ jie³	cousin (older female)	表姐
gong¹ gong¹	grandfather (mother's father)	公公	biao³ mei⁴	cousin (younger female)	表妹
nai³ nai³	grandmother (father's mother)	奶奶
a¹ po²	grandmother (mother's mother)	阿婆

Note that tone shifts are common in relational characters, especially when they are reduplicated characters.

jia¹ ting²	family	家庭
jia¹ ren²	family member	家人
qin¹ qi¹	relative	亲戚
zao³ xian¹	ancestor	早先
xian¹ sheng¹	Mr./husband	先生
zhang⁴ fu¹	husband	丈夫
lao³ gong¹	husband	老公
tai⁴ tai⁴	Mrs./wife	太太
lao³ po²	wife	老婆

Mandarin Vocabulary Family Terms

Mandarin Vocabulary
Family Terms