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: -- ÔÚÓ¢ÓïÖУ¬"uncle" µÄÒâ˼ÊDz®¸¸/²®²®¡¢Ê常/ÊåÊå¡¢¾Ë¸¸/¾Ë¾Ë¡¢¹Ã¸¸/¹ÃÕÉ¡¢Ò̸¸/ÒÌÕÉ¡£
                 -- In English, "Uncle" means brother of one's mother or father or husband of one's aunt.

No. 103: -- ÔÚººÓïÖУ¬¸¸Ç׵ĸç¸ç±»³ÆΪ²®¸¸»ò²®²®¡£
                 -- The elder brother of one's father is called "bobo" or "bofu" in Chinese.
                 
No. 104: -- ĸÇ׵ĸç¸ç»òµÜµÜ±»³ÆΪ¾Ë¸¸»ò¾Ë¾Ë¡£
                 -- The bother of one's mother is called "jiu fu " or "jiujiu".

No.105: -- ¸¸Ç׵ĵܱܵ»³ÆΪÊ常»òÊåÊå¡£
                 -- The younger brother of one's father is called "shufu" or "shushu".
              
No.106:   -- ¸¸Ç׵Ľã½ã»òÃÃÃõÄÕÉ·ò±»³ÆΪ¹Ã¸¸»ò¹ÃÕÉ¡£
                 -- The husband of father's sister is called "gufu"or "guzhang".         

No. 107:   -- ĸÇ׵Ľã½ã»òÃÃÃõÄÕÉ·ò±»³ÆΪÒ̸¸»òÒÌÕÉ¡£
                  -- 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