Wednesday 1 May 2013

稱謂 chēng wèi (Family names)

It is quite complicated when it comes to 稱謂  chēng wèi (Family names) in Chinese.

I found this website very helpful that it explained well and has pretty much all.

" Chinese people place a great deal of importance on family and familial relations. To that end, they have a special name for just about everyone you are related to. Different names for uncles depending on which side of the family they’re on and how old they are. Different names for your sisters-in-law depending on if they are older or younger than your wife. It really is quite complicated.
In Taiwan, this is made doubly so, because you not only have to learn the Mandarin words and pronunciation for each of these members, but you also learn the Taiwanese pronunciation. This more or less doubles the already incredibly large database of family names you must learn. To that end, I’ve tried to make a list for you. Many thanks go to Miss Expatriate and her mom, who somehow manages to keep all of these straight and inform us ahead of time who we’ll be meeting and what we should call them. "

http://www.expatintaiwan.net/family-names/