# Mandarin, Cantonese: Mother, Father, Sister, Brother



## jana.bo99

Hello to all,

I want to know all four members of family in Mandarin, Cantonese.
(how do you say: with romanic explanation?)

Am I wrong? 

Thank you in advance,
jana.bo


----------



## univerio

You mean, with pinyin?

Mother = 母亲 mu3qin0 (Mom = 妈妈 ma1ma0)
Father = 父亲 fu4qin0 (Dad = 爸爸 ba4ba0)
For sister and brother it depends on context. And because cousins in Chinese are similar to siblings, we sometimes add a 亲 at the front to indicate that you're closely related by blood. So here we go:
Younger sister = (亲)妹妹 (qin1)mei4mei0
Older sister = (亲)姐姐 (qin1)jie3jie0
 Younger brother = (亲)弟弟 (qin1)di4di0
Older brother = (亲)哥哥 (qin1)ge1ge0


----------



## viqkhn

In Cantonese, Father = 老豆， 貌似如此。其他都一样吧。我也不清楚。


----------



## loveaska

jana.bo99 said:


> Hello to all,
> 
> I want to know all four members of family in Mandarin, Cantonese.
> (how do you say: with romanic explanation?)
> 
> Am I wrong?
> 
> Thank you in advance,
> jana.bo


 
i tell you that in Cantonese:
mother= 老母 (lou mou)
father=老豆(lou dou)
sister=家姐(ga je)
brother=大佬(dai lou)


----------



## jana.bo99

Hello univerio, viqkhn and loveaska,


Thank you very much.

I like this Chinese, Cantonese and Mandarine. 

I should also write it again, but have no squares.

Greetings to all of you,
jana.bo


----------



## Senordineroman

What is the difference between a "da4 jie3" and  a  "jie3 jie3"?  Is there a difference?


----------



## samanthalee

ChrisCashman said:


> What is the difference between a  and  a  "jie3 jie3"?  Is there a difference?


"da4 jie3" (大姐) is the eldest sister. The second would be "er4 jie3" (二姐), the third "san1 jie3" (三姐), and so on.

It'll also work with other relatives: "mei4" (妹), "di4"(弟), "ge1" (哥), "yi2 ma1" (姨妈), "gu ma" (姑妈), "jiu4" (舅), "shu1" (叔), "bo2" (伯)


----------



## CANANA

loveaska said:


> i tell you that in Cantonese:
> mother= 老母 (lou mou)
> father=老豆(lou dou)
> sister=家姐(ga je)
> brother=大佬(dai lou)



My mom definitely would not want someone to call her "老母"

Cantonese swearing contains those two word.

Most moms preferred being call "媽咪".


----------



## snailsmail

loveaska said:


> i tell you that in Cantonese: mother= 老母 (lou mou) father=老豆(lou dou)


    老母 (lou mou) and 老豆(lou dou) are slang words. "Lou mou" means "old ma" and "lou dou" means old bean.   The formal word for mother is "母亲 (mou chan)" and father is "父亲 (fu chan)".  In common usage, people usually call their parents "ah ma", "ah pa" or "lou mou", "lou dou"


----------



## SuperXW

There are too many variants using in different occasions...
Guess we can use some tables here.

Mandarin (with simplified Chinese and Pinyin)



Formal
Colloquial
Colloquial rural style
Colloquial modern style
!!!Special Note!!!
Father
父亲fu4qin(1) 父fu4
爸ba4 爸爸ba4ba0
爹die1
老爸lao3ba4
Mother
母亲mu3qin(1) 母mu3
妈ma1 妈妈ma1ma0
娘niang2
老妈lao3ma1
Brothers
兄弟xiong1di4
<-
<-
<-
Older brother
兄xiong1 兄长xiong1zhang3
哥ge1 哥哥ge1ge0
<-
老哥lao3ge1 is ok if he is quite big
Oldest brother
长兄zhang4xiong1
大哥da4ge1 (also used to call someone who looks )
<-
<-
大哥 is also for any man who looks like a "big brother" type, sometimes just for ironic effect; 
大哥哥 only used by innocent little girls... 
老兄: literally means "old brother", used as "buddy", "dude".
Younger brother
弟di4
弟di4 弟弟di4di
<-
老弟lao3di4 is ok if he is quite big
Youngest brother
小弟xiao3di4
<-
<-
<-
小弟 also used to call someone "subordinate";
小弟弟: unless the boy in only in kindergarten age, you're refering "the dick".
Sisters
姊妹zi3mei4 姐妹jie3mei4
姐妹jie3mei4
<-
<-
Older sister
姊zi3 姐jie3
姐jie3 姐姐jie3jie0
<-
老姐lao3jie3 is ok if she is quite big
Oldest sister
大姐da4jie3
<-
<-
<-
大姐 also refers to older women who could be called an "aunt". 
小姐 usually refers to young females as "Miss" during contemporary time. But in recent years it often used to refer prostitutes in mainland China.
Younger sister
妹mei4
妹mei4 妹妹mei4mei0
妹mei4 妹妹mei4mei0 妹子mei4zi0
妹mei4 妹妹mei4mei0
妹妹 often refers to "girl" in Internet language or in "man's talks". 
Yongest sister
小妹xiao3mei4
小妹xiao3mei4
<-
<-
Calling somebody 小妹妹 is like talking to a little girl, and it will make you look like a pervert.
2nd brother/sister
add 二er4 before 兄弟姊妹
add 二er4 before 兄弟姐妹
<-
<-
大妹 may refer to "the oldest younger sister." It's strange there seems no saying of 大弟, but only 二弟, 三弟.
Siblings
add 胞bao1 before 兄弟姊妹
add 亲qin1 before 兄弟姐妹
<-
<-
亲 is an adjective here. When using as a verb, it means "to kiss".
Cousins (father's side)
add 堂tang2 before 兄弟姊妹
add 堂tang2 before 兄弟姐妹
<-
<-
Cousins (mother's side)
add 表biao3 before 兄弟姊妹
add 表biao3 before 兄弟姐妹
<-
<-
Not related by birth, but by swear etc.
add 义yi4 or 契qi4 before 父母兄弟姊妹
add 干gan1 before 兄弟姐妹
<-
哥们儿: "bro, buddy";
姐们儿: "sister, sis"
Common practice in both ancient and modern China, although the meaning has been changed from very religious into very casual.




Modifies welcome!
I'm too tired to make a Cantonese one...


----------



## Senordineroman

Dang, SuperXW.  Ting-hao le!


----------



## snailsmail

snailsmail said:


> 老母 (lou mou) and 老豆(lou dou) are slang words. "Lou mou" means "old ma" and "lou dou" means old bean.   The formal word for mother is "母亲 (mou chan)" and father is "父亲 (fu chan)".  In common usage, people usually call their parents "ah ma", "ah pa" or "lou mou", "lou dou"


   Forgot to say 大佬(dai lou) is also a colloquial. It means "big guy" for elder brother. Younger brother is 小佬 (sai lou) = "little guy".  Here's a detailed list of of Chinese family terms in Cantonese and Mandarin. Hope it's helpful! www(dot)kwanfamily(dot)info/culture/familytitles_table.php


----------



## SuperXW

snailsmail said:


> Forgot to say 大佬(dai lou) is also a colloquial. It means "big guy" for elder brother. Younger brother is 小佬 (sai lou) = "little guy".


To be precise, younger brother (sai lou) is 細佬, not 小佬.


----------



## jana.bo99

When I look all those words and numbers (very short), it doesn't look so difficult.
But, to draw all signs, I would need ten years only to learn, how to write it all.

SuperW,
You did it fantastic: all the scale is good for students of Mandarin language.

B.


----------



## sutoo

From my personal experience, the most common colloquial expressions used in Hong Kong Cantonese are as follows (the formal ones are mostly similar to their Mandarin counterparts):
Mother-阿媽(aa3 maa1), 媽咪(mammy), 媽媽(maa4 maa1 or maa1 maa1, where the former seems a bit more widely in everyday conversation)
Father-阿爸(aa3 baa4), 爹地(daddy), 爸爸(baa4 baa1), 老竇(lou5 dau6)
Sister (elder)-家姐(gaa1 ze1), 姐姐(ze4 ze1)
Sister (younger)-阿妹(aa3 mui2), 細妹(sai3 mui2), 妹妹(mui4 mui2) 
Brother (elder)-阿哥(aa3 go1), 大佬(daai6 lou2), 哥哥(go4 go1)
Brother (younger)-細佬(sai3 lou2), 弟弟(dai4 dai2)


----------

