Laowai Chinese 老外中文

Chinese Family Tree

2007 January 11 – 11:11 am | Categories: Blog Updates, Vocabulary| Leave a comment

Talking about family members in Chinese is very complicated due to the Confucian emphasis on relationships and hierarchy. (See also Mates, Terms of Endearment, and Addressing Strangers).

For example, the English word “cousin” has 8 different Chinese translations depending on mother’s side or father’s side, older or younger, boy or girl. By the way, don’t be fooled when your Chinese friends appear to defy the One Child Policy and tell you about their 5 brothers and sisters. They frequently leave off the cousin-indicating prefix and just call their cousins “older brother” or “younger sister.”

To simplify the task of wading through the myriad of family terms, I’ve made a visual representation of the relationships and terms, which is available for download below (click on the picture).

Chinese Family Tree.pdf
(requires Adobe Reader, which is available here).

NOTE: To download the document directly to your computer without viewing it in your internet browser, right-click on the link and select “Save link/target as…”

You’ll notice it doesn’t include the great grandparents’ generation. This is because many Chinese don’t know the technical terms for great grandparents, such as “zēngzǔfù 曾祖父” (“great grandfather on father’s side”), and it would be easier just to say, “Grandfather’s father” in Chinese to get your meaning across.

In addition to the terms and tips on the Chinese Family Tree.pdf, here is some vocabulary I’ve found useful when talking about family members and relationships.

General Family Terms

qīnqi 亲戚 = relative
zǔzōng祖宗 / zǔxiān祖先 = ancestor

qīn gēge 亲哥哥 = real older brother (same parents)
qīn jiějie 亲姐姐 = real older sister(same parents)

xiōngdì 兄弟 = brothers
jiěmèi 姐妹 = sisters
xiōngdì jiěmèi 兄弟姐妹 = siblings

fùmǔ父母 = parents
zhàngfu hé qīzi 丈夫和妻子 = husband and wife
àiren爱人/ pèi’ǒu 配偶= spouse / lover
nǚpéngyou女朋友 = girlfriend
nánpéngyou男朋友 = boyfriend

yīng’ér婴儿 = infant / baby
xiǎoháir小孩儿 / háizi孩子 = child

Oh, by the way, I’ve left out the arsenal of in-law terms. If you’ve got a reason to learn those, well, you’re on your own.

Similar Posts (computer generated):

26 Responses to “Chinese Family Tree”
hanyu said:

family tree?
i don’t find my family tree.

Comment date: Jan 11, 2007
Albert said:

hanyu,

Please click on the picture above or the text “Chinese Family Tree.pdf” to download my document of Chinese family terms in the shape of a family tree.

It’s up to you to create your own family tree from there.

Comment date: Jan 11, 2007
Jason said:

Excellent resource! Now how about if we throw step- relatives into the mix?

Thanks,

Jason

Comment date: Jan 11, 2007
Ingo said:

Hi Albert,
are you living in southern china? I learned that airen = wife/husband, lover only in the south. Wrong?

Comment date: Jan 12, 2007
Dan said:

丈夫和妻子=夫妻

Comment date: Jan 18, 2007
Albert said:

Ingo,

I’ve heard from my friend in the Northeast that they also use “airen” there. Anyone else know if it’s universal or not?

Comment date: Feb 20, 2007
Mandarin said:

Do you know who is ‘姨夫’?

Comment date: Jun 10, 2007
jonathan said:

‘姨夫’is mother’s old sister’ husband

Comment date: Jul 17, 2007
sara said:

airen is used by mainland chinese people. in taiwan, people tend to use tai tai, xiansheng…

Comment date: Nov 2, 2007
Kexin said:

Where I am in northern China, people do use airen, but more common is duixiang (not common at all with southerners)

Comment date: Dec 11, 2007
Joel said:

We hear ai4 ren2 (爱人) in Tianjin often. We often use Lao3 Po2 (老婆wife) and Lao3 Gong1 (老公husband). If I address Jessica as 老婆 with the right tone of voice in front of our Chinese friends it always gets a rise out of them. Our teachers have said that young marrieds sometimes use these to be cute or affectionate. I’m still not totally clear on all the various connotations.

I was planning to make a family tree, but you did all my work for me! Maybe I’ll take yours and expand it?

I wonder if any of these terms will fall out of use when the single child generation takes over.

Comment date: Dec 12, 2007
madarin said:

The “Chinese Family Tree” illustration is great .. but is it missing any terms?? What about .. 姨丈,姑丈,姑爺,嫂子,家嫂, etc., I dont know how they are related and I cant find them on the family tree. It would be great if you could at some illustration with them.

Comment date: Jan 8, 2008
Sharon ZY said:

爱人 refers to spouse, so the husband can introduce his wife to his friends saying that This is my airen; and the wife can also introduce her husband saying the same thing.

Comment date: Mar 9, 2008
I am looking for my airen... said:

if you are got married then you can call your company is your “airen”, but if before wedding you couldn’t call “airen” , you should call your lover or boyfriend/girlfriend, as if a men said to you” this is my airen…” this means he loves and respects his wife very well.

Comment date: May 9, 2008
alchiang said:

Hi madarin,
I’m from Malaysia and I’m a local Chinese.

姨丈 is your mother’s-sister’s husband,
姑丈 is your father’s-sister’s husband,
姑爺 ,if I’m not mistaken is usually address by servants/maids to their master’s daughter’s husband and
嫂子 refers to your elder brother’s wife,
and lastly 家嫂 is refered by elders to their family’s daughter-in-law.(Cantonese). Hope I’m right.

Comment date: Jul 27, 2008
alchiang said:

For more details of The Chinese Family Tree,
Please visit my more detailed version of the Chinese Paternal & Maternal Family tree.
Link http://malaysian-cuisine.com/touristinfo/family_tree.htm

Comment date: Jul 31, 2008
Albert said:

alchiang,

Wow! That’s an overwhelmingly awesome family tree. I only wish it had pinyin.

Comment date: Jul 31, 2008
Alchiang said:

Hi Albert
pinyin will be added soon

Comment date: Aug 12, 2008
Cecillia said:

姨(Yi 2)丈(zhang 4) is your mother’s-sister’s husband,
but in north China, we usually say 姨(yi 2)夫(fu)

姑(gu 1)丈 is your father’s-sister’s husband, i say 姑夫(fu)

姑(GU 1 )爷(Ye) ,if I’m not mistaken is usually address by servants/maids to their master’s daughter’s husband

actually gu ye has a lot of meanings varied from different regions in China.(Is this sentence right???)

For example, your child should call your sister’s husband gu ye

In addition, if the others ask your parents about your sister’s husband, they will say:”How is your gu ye?”———-This is my understanding of gu ye

Comment date: Nov 23, 2008
Gongzan said:

All these terms sound weird when I say them in cantonese. everyone thinks im talking like a robot. Is there anywhere I can find a 粵語 version?

Comment date: Nov 23, 2008
Yang said:

Is there a special term for cousins through a different concubine? My Grandfather had three daughters from first wife and my father was from first concubine. Is there a special term those mothers and for the children of those daughters to me? (They were from southern China.)

Comment date: Mar 30, 2009
gudong said:

The explain of 堂 and 表 in the family tree picture is inaccurate.
堂=your father’s brother’s child.
表＝your father’s sister’s child（姑表）＋ cousin of your mother’s side（姨表）.
For example,姑表姐 is your father’s sister’s daughter older than you, 姨表弟 is your mother’s brother’s/sister’s son younger than you.

some family numbers in-law:
岳父：father of my wife
岳母：mother of my wife
公公：father of my husband
婆婆：mother of my husband
大伯子：older brother of my husband
小叔子：younger brother of my husband
大姑子：older sister of my husband
小姑子：youner sister of my husband
大姨子：older sister of my wife
小姨子：younger sister of my wife
大舅子：older brother of my wife
小舅子：younger brother of my wife
连襟：husband of my wife’s sister
妯娌：wife of my husband’s brother

Comment date: Apr 2, 2009
gudong said:

Sorry for a mistake ,there is the correction:
堂=your father’s brother’s child.
表＝your father’s sister’s child（姑表）＋ your mother’s sister’s child（姨表）+your mother’s brother’s child（舅表）.

For example,姑表姐 is your father’s sister’s daughter older than you, 姨表弟 is your mother’s sister’s son younger than you.

Comment date: Apr 2, 2009
Franeela said:

I would like to get the word to call mother’s younger siser.

Comment date: May 19, 2009
Greg said:

Hey Albert

Thanks for a useful article. I refer to it in a recent post entitled Why a meal is worth more to me than my grandmother.

Greg

Comment date: Jul 17, 2009