4 ms·

A more brief, but less objective, way of saying this is "young female cousin via female parent". As others have pointed out, the Chinese care to track this rela

A more brief, but less objective, way of saying this is "young female cousin via female parent". As others have pointed out, the Chinese care to track this relationship.

Anon1096 5y ago
It's about being younger than you, not merely being young.
- pc86 5y ago
  And probably "via a female parent" as your father's sister's daughter isn't through your female parent.
thaumasiotes 5y ago
> A more brief, but less objective, way of saying this is It really isn't complex. 妹 - female, same generation, younger than you. 表 - cousin outside your family.
- stonogo 5y ago
  "cousin outside your family" is an oxymoron in most of the western world. getting this concept accross is why the constant is so awkwardly worded.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    > "cousin outside your family" is an oxymoron in most of the western world It's a tangent, but I would actually argue that in the Western world, all cousins are outside your family and the concept of a cousin belonging to the same family as you is the unthinkable one.
    - gvx 5y ago
      In the Netherlands at least, we use "familie" to refer to the extended family. To talk about the immediate family or one's household, we would use "gezin" (Although I think some parts of the Netherlands may use "familie" for the nuclear family as well? Not where I live, though.) We don't generally distinguish between matrilineally and patrilineally related family, which is what the "cousin outside the family" was originally about.
      - thaumasiotes 5y ago
        Using one word for your family and an unrelated word for your other relatives, including your cousins, doesn't make it sound like your cousins are part of your family. That's a sharper distinction than is drawn in English. This isn't a question of the pronunciation of the word you use to refer to remote relatives. It's a question of the social relationships that exist between you and your relatives.

A more brief, but less objective, way of saying this is "young female cousin via female parent". As others have pointed out, the Chinese care to track this relationship.

Anon1096 5y ago

It's about being younger than you, not merely being young.

pc86 5y ago
And probably "via a female parent" as your father's sister's daughter isn't through your female parent.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

> A more brief, but less objective, way of saying this is It really isn't complex. 妹 - female, same generation, younger than you. 表 - cousin outside your family.

stonogo 5y ago
"cousin outside your family" is an oxymoron in most of the western world. getting this concept accross is why the constant is so awkwardly worded.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  > "cousin outside your family" is an oxymoron in most of the western world It's a tangent, but I would actually argue that in the Western world, all cousins are outside your family and the concept of a cousin belonging to the same family as you is the unthinkable one.
  - gvx 5y ago
    In the Netherlands at least, we use "familie" to refer to the extended family. To talk about the immediate family or one's household, we would use "gezin" (Although I think some parts of the Netherlands may use "familie" for the nuclear family as well? Not where I live, though.) We don't generally distinguish between matrilineally and patrilineally related family, which is what the "cousin outside the family" was originally about.
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      Using one word for your family and an unrelated word for your other relatives, including your cousins, doesn't make it sound like your cousins are part of your family. That's a sharper distinction than is drawn in English. This isn't a question of the pronunciation of the word you use to refer to remote relatives. It's a question of the social relationships that exist between you and your relatives.