Family Members

In our culture, we generalize our parents' siblings as our aunts and uncles. Our grandparents are just grandma and grandpa. This is all very simple. However, in Chinese culture, we not only call them by aunt or uncle or grandpa. We take into consideration of which side the relatives are on (mother's or father's), what their last names are, how old they are, and how closely related we are.

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Mother's side:

mother's cousin: biu yi (younger female), biu yi ma (older female), biu kou fu (older or younger male)

mother's sibling: yi yi (younger sister), yi ma (older sister), kou fu (for both older and younger brothers)

grandmother's sibling: yi po (older or younger sister), yi gong (sister's husband), kou gong (older or younger brother), kum po (brother's wife)

grandmother's parents: tai po (great grandma), tai gong (great grandpa)

grandfather's parents: tai ye (great grandpa), tai ma (great grandpa)

grandfather's sibling: bat gong (older brother), bat po (older brother's wife), gu po (older and younger sister), jeung gong (older and younger sister's husband)

Father's side:

father's cousins: (same last name) bat bat (older male), shok shok (younger male), gu ma (older female), gu je (younger female); (not the same last name) biu gu ma (older female), biu gu jeh (younger female), biu bat (older male), biu shok (younger male)

father's siblings: gu ma (older sister), gu jeh (younger sister), bat bat (older brother), shok shok (younger brother)

grandmother's sibling: yi po (sister), yi gong (sister's husband), kou gong (brother), kum po (brother's wife)

grandmother's parents: tai gong (great grandpa), tai po (great grandma)

grandfather's parents: tai ye (great grandpa), tai ma (great grandma)

grandfather's sibling: bat gong (older brother), bat po (older brother's wife), suk gong (younger brother), suk po (younger brother's wife), gu po (older and younger sister), jeung gong (older and younger sister's husband)