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Yes Chinese use different words for the two sides of the family. Also, depending on which part of China you're from, first cousins whose fathers are brothers (
by comatose51 16y ago
Yes Chinese use different words for the two sides of the family.
Also, depending on which part of China you're from, first cousins whose fathers are brothers (thus having the same surnames) would refer to each other as brothers and sisters.
That part is rather confusing sometimes but otherwise Chinese is very precise in enumerating your relationships.
- PebblesRox 16y agoWow, by that reckoning I'd have 23 siblings!
- elblanco 16y agoThere's also the whole Confucian family numbers to. Sort of a degrees of separation metric in a way.
- mrtron 16y agoIn several dialects there is also a variation of the word for oldest and youngest aunt/uncle/cousin/child/etc. The middle ones just get referred to by number.
- apu 16y agoThis is quite similar to the way things work in India as well (or at least the parts of Northern India I'm familiar with).