Vocabulary: Members of the Family

Today, we'll cover vocabulary relating to family relations. We'll start with the immediate family.

• abbu = dad
• ammi = mom
• bhai = brother
• bahen = sister
• beta = son
• beti = daughter
• husband = shohar
• wife = bivi

The Urdu vocabulary describing family members is more thorough than it is in English. For example, in Urdu, you wouldn't refer to both of your grandmothers by the same title. Instead, you would call your paternal grandmother "daadi" and your maternal grandmother "naani".

• daada = paternal grandfather
• daadi = paternal grandmother
• naana = maternal grandfather
• naani = maternal grandmother

The same is true for aunts and uncles.

• chacha = paternal uncle
• chachi = paternal uncle's wife
  
• maamoon = maternal uncle
• maami = maternal uncle's wife
  
• phuppi = paternal aunt
• phuppa = paternal aunt's husband
  
• khala = maternal aunt
• khalu = maternal aunt's husband
  

Again the same kind of description is made when referring to nieces and nephews.

• bhateeja = nephew (brother's son)
• bhaanja = nephew (sister's son)
• bhateeji = niece (brother's daughter)
• bhaanji = niece (sister's daughter)

Finally, cousins are usually referred to by using the word for brother or sister: "bhai" or "bahen". To be more explicit about who you're talking about, these words can be preceeded by "chachazaad", meaning "born of the paternal uncle", or "mamoonzaad", meaning "born of the maternal uncle".

• bhai = male cousin
• bahen = female cousin
• chachazaad bhai = male cousin from father's side
• chachazaad bahen = female cousin from father's side
• mamoonzaad bhai = male cousin from mother's side
• mamoonzaad bahen = female cousin from mother's side