Page 62 - Mandarin Circle

TOPIC 6: FAMILY MEMBERS

Family, a group of people living together by the ties of blood and relationships. Family

in Chinese is “家”（jiā). It contains the combination ideas of both a place and people.

The top character (宀) indicates “house”, whereas (豕) indicates “pig”. It means a safe

place for humans who have the ties of blood and relationships, living together in a

peaceful and happy way. In China, Chinese give attention to family far more than

anything else. When any family members struggle, relatives will eventually lend them
their hand and even personal sacrifice.

6.1 How to properly address different family members in Mandarin?

Chinese families emphasize on respecting the elders and cherishing the younger

ones. This is one of the virtues of Chinese tradition. When communicating with the

elderly, you have to respect them by addressing them as 您 (nín) instead of 你 (nǐ). It

is disrespectful to call an elder by his/her name directly. Thus, this brings people closer
and feels kind to each other. Let’s take a look at some commonly used terms of

different ways to address family members and also relatives.

51