The discussion about the kinship in Chinese and English

王麗峰

The discussion about the kinship in Chinese and English

王麗峰

一、Introduction to this thesis

Kinship terms in Chinese are much more complicated and precise. And kinship terms in English are much more simple and direct. This thesis starts to talk about the systems of kinship terms in Chinese and English.

二、Systems of kinship terms in Chinese and English

（一）Forms of kinship terms in Chinese

Chinese has evolved a much complex system of address terms in kinship than English has. In China， kinship terms are not only used within one’s own family， but also to other people. Yu Lanfung （1958）， a Chinese philosopher finds， In the Erh Ya， which is the oldest dictionary of the Chinese language，“dating from before the Christian era， there are more than one hundred terms for various family relationships， most of which have no equivalent in the English language.”

A.Kinship terms of paternal relationship

Chinese kinship terms often tell whether the relatives are from the mother’s side or the father’s side. For example，one’s father’s father is called ye ye （grandpa）， father’s mother is called nai nai （grandma）； and father’s sister is called gu gu （aunt）. Generally speaking， in China， the kinship terms from paternal relationships are bo bo/bo mu， shu shu/shen shen. According their birth， these kinship terms are divided into da bo（the first elder uncle） er bo， （the second elder uncle）， Da shu（the first younger uncle）， er shu （the second younger uncle）.

B.Nonrelative kinship terms in China

In Chinese social interactions， people are accustomed to nonrelatives using kinship terms， which are referred to “special kinship terms”. In social communication， some of the kinship terms in the Chinese language can apply to any person according to the person’s sex and age. For example， the woman travels in unfamiliar places and asks for directions， she will address an old man as da ye （big grandpa） or da shu （big uncle）； if a woman of the same age as da jie or da sao （big elder sister）. Furthermore， between close friends， especially among females， kinship terms are also often heard， such as zhou jie and li jie （surname+elder sister）. So we may say that in Chinese culture， kinship terms are widely used to address known or unknown people.

（二）Forms of kinship terms in English

Unlike Chinese language， English language pays little attention to the age difference of the same generation and the differences between paternal and maternal relations in its kinship terms. For example， Grandma can be both one’s mother’s mother or father’s mother； Brother can refer to both one’s elder brother or younger brother. Traditionally in English counties， children are expected to address their parents’ brother and sister with the title of uncle or aunt plus their first name， e.g. Aunt Alice and Uncle Harry.

三、Comparison of Chinese kinship terms and English kinship terms

In contrast to English kinship terms， the Chinese kinship system is very complicated. Chinese culture has many finegrained terms for different types of family relationships. For example， in Chinese term： father’s elder brother - Bo fu；father’s younger brother - Shu fu； Father’s sister’s husband - Gu fu； Mother’s brother - Jiu fu； all these titles are named Uncle in English term. As well， in Chinese term： Father’s elder brother’s wife - Bo mu； Mothers brother’s wife -Jiu mu； these two titles in English term， it is both named aunt. Based on above example， Chinese relationship is complex with different titles.

四、Conclusion

In this thesis， a contrastive study is made on kinship terms in the two languages---Chinese and English and the use of kinship terms in the two languages are also explained. The kinship has connected with the different cultures， like western culture and eastern culture. So， kinship is not a simple title thing， it is better to understand different cultural backgrounds to use it.

Reference：

［1］Lin Yutang.My Country and My People［M］.Xian：Shanxi normal university press，2002.

［2］Leach E. R.The developmental cycle in domestic groups［M］. Cambridge：Cambridge University Press，1958.

［3］Yu Lanfeng， Y. L. A short history of Chinese philosophy［M］. New York：The MacMillan Company，1958.

［4］金惠男.跨文化交際翻譯［M］.北京：外翻譯出版社，2014.

［5］林語堂.吾國與吾民［M］.西安：陜西師范大學出版社，2012.

在這篇論文里，主要討論了英漢兩種親屬稱呼語。這兩種親屬稱呼語有著各自的特征：漢語里的親屬稱呼語比較復雜、精細；而英語里的親屬稱呼語則相對簡單、直接。

kinship Chinese English

（作者單位：河南工業大學外語學院）