Overview

Mandarin Chinese’s kinship terms are generally more specific than English’s, paying attention to things like roles, status, degrees of intimacy and familiarity, age, gender, and situational contexts (Zhu). For example, while English calls all sisters of parents “aunt” and all brothers of parents “uncle,” Chinese distinguishes not only between the siblings on your father’s side and your mother’s side, but also if they are younger or older than your father or mother (see chart). Also, Chinese has different terms for cousins, grandparents, grandchildren, and in-laws, depending on which side of the family it is in and what gender the person you are addressing is.

Fictive Kinship Examples

1. 阿姨 (āyí) – “aunt”: 阿姨 is a generalized term for “aunt” that doesn’t reveal the information such as gender or which side of the family the aunt is on. Although it can only be used to refer to older women that are around your mother’s age, it is considered a polite term without any negative connotations.

2. 大姐 (dàjie)/大哥 (dàgē) – “older sister” and “older brother”: 姐 and 哥 are used in a consanguineal setting, but when you add 大 (meaning “big”) before it, it becomes a polite form of address for strangers around your same age. An interesting thing to note is that both of these terms use the words for OLDER siblings. It is considered extremely rude to call someone anything related to YOUNGER siblings, like 妹 (mèi) or 第 (dì).

3. 叔叔 (shūshu) – “younger uncle on your father’s side”: This word is a broad term that can be used to refer to any adult male whether he is a family friend or a complete stranger on the street. In English, sometimes “uncle” can be used to refer to a male family friend too, but this usage is much more limited than the Chinese use of 叔叔 in fictive kinship.

Possible Explanation

Chinese culture, along with many other Asian cultures, is very family-oriented and therefore places a strong emphasis on politeness and perceived hierarchy among family and other members of the community, unlike English-speaking societies which tend to emphasize individuality (Li 84). Also, the impact of Confucian beliefs on Chinese culture has led to the ideas that an person is part of society first before he or she is an individual, and the young must respect the old (Geng 2). Because of this, kinship terms not only define familial relationships but also the specific role that member of the family is expected to play in relation to the others (Li 84). Also, extending these kinship terms outside of the family serves to increase the sense of collectivism and unity that drives a large part of Chinese culture (Geng 3). Also, using kinship terms with a stranger immediately strengthens the feeling of wanting to show good harmony within a relationship and can soften a stranger’s view towards you.

Interestingly, only kinship terms that signify an “older” relationship are used in fictive kinship situations (i.e. you can use “aunt” and “older brother/older sister” but not “niece” or “little brother/little sister”). This could be due to the Chinese’s emphasis on humility and politeness in accordance to the Confucian tradition of respecting one’s elders. To use another example, unlike English, which only has one word for “I” and “you,” modern Chinese has an informal version and a polite version for the word “you” which is meant to allow the speaker to show proper humility within the presence of someone else. Also, there are several terms used for “I” (although many are now considered antiquated) that are meant to self-abase the speaker in the presence of the listener to show added modesty and respect. This emphasis on a humble presentation of oneself for the exalting of another could be one reason why only kinship terms that refer to the stranger as “older” are used in fictive kinship scenarios and why those younger or considered junior are supposed to define the relationship with their listener when they are not at the top of that conversation’s hierarchy (Blum 361).

In terms of the expanded applicability of words like 叔叔 (shūshu) compared to the English fictive kinship use of “uncle,” this could also be attributed to the patriarchal nature of Chinese society (Li 85). Another effect of Confucianism was the instillation of patriarchal beliefs where fathers ran the family and the rest of the family was meant to serve him and support him in various ways. The whole family was centered around the male head, so this could explain why male kinship terms seem to be popular in fictive kinship instances.

Move on to Hopi Kinship Terms.

Citations

Blum, Susan D. “Naming Practices and the Power of Words in China.” Language in Society, vol. 26, 1997, pp. 357–379., https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500019503

Geng, C. L. (2015). Comparison Between Chinese Address Terms and English Address Terms. Higher Education of Social Science, 9(4), 1-4. Available from: URL: http:// http://www.cscanada.net/index.php/hess/article/view/7667 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/7667

Li, C. R. (2015). Aspects of Address Forms in Chinese and English: A Comparative Study. Cross-Cultural Communication, 11(7), 79-86. Available from: http//www.cscanada.net/index.php/ccc/article/view/7255 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/7255

Zhu Hua (2010) Language socialization and interculturality: address terms in intergenerational talk in Chinese diasporic families, Language and Intercultural Communication, 10:3, 189-205, DOI: 10.1080/14708470903348531