Chinese in Daily Life-0017: (Sentence:102--107):How to Call One's Relatives 01:"Uncle"
-- Chinese Language Custom 02: "Uncle" Has to Be Expressed With Some Different Characters

LISTEN TO THE TEXT

Hi friends, last weekend we learned what we call our family members. Today, I would like to tell you what the Chinese call some of their other relatives. Here I will give you the words in mandarin, the Chinese official language, and not in any particular dialect because there are 9 big dialect areas and over one thousand dialects in China.   

NEW SENTENCES ABOUT ONE'S RELATIVES:

Please click on any Chinese character that you need help with to see its Chinese pinyin, pronunciation and meaning and then read it after me.

No. 102: -- 在英语中，"uncle" 的意思是伯父/伯伯、叔父/叔叔、舅父/舅舅、姑父/姑丈、姨父/姨丈。
                 -- In English, "Uncle" means brother of one's mother or father or husband of one's aunt.

No. 103: -- 在汉语中，父亲的哥哥被称为伯父或伯伯。
                 -- The elder brother of one's father is called "bobo" or "bofu" in Chinese.
                 
No. 104: -- 母亲的哥哥或弟弟被称为舅父或舅舅。
                 -- The bother of one's mother is called "jiu fu " or "jiujiu".

No.105: -- 父亲的弟弟被称为叔父或叔叔。
                 -- The younger brother of one's father is called "shufu" or "shushu".
              
No.106:   -- 父亲的姐姐或妹妹的丈夫被称为姑父或姑丈。
                 -- The husband of father's sister is called "gufu"or "guzhang".         

No. 107:   -- 母亲的姐姐或妹妹的丈夫被称为姨父或姨丈。
                  -- the husband of mother’s sister is called "yifu" or "yizhang".

NEW WORDSLISTEN TO THE TEXT:

Please click on any Chinese character that you need help with to see its Chinese pinyin, pronunciation and meaning and then read it after
me.

Chinese Language Custom 02:

In English, the word “uncle” can refer to many different relatives -- the brother of one's mother or father or the husband of one's aunt. In Chinese we can't refer to these four relatives using the same word. We have to use different words for each one:

1. The brother of one's mother: jiufu or jiujiu

2. The brother of one's father: bofu or bobo

3. The husband of one's aunt (father's sister): gufu or guzhang

4. The husband of one's aunt (mother's sister): yifu or yizhang

I hope this is a little help to you in knowing more about Chinese culture and language. :-)

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please write to shirley@ebridge.cn , or shirleyz004@yahoo.com, You are also welcome to publish your opinions in Forum For Friends. :-)   

--Shirley
Written and Recorded On Fri, March 17, 2006