Family members in Losunian
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introduce the unique systems of family members in Losunian
This public article was written by [Deactivated User] on 1 Feb 2017, 15:11.
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2. About Losunian
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Telling a family member in Losunian is easy. In general, you only have to memorize 9 basic members (that is, your father, mother, elder brother, younger brother, elder sister, younger sister, son, daughter, and spouse), and the other family members are modified based on these 9 basic members. This system is much more easier than those in Chinese (but it is still a little harder than English). All the Chinese characters in this article are "Chinese language" or "Mandarin", not the Chinese character form in Losunian language.
So, that's learn the 9 basic members first:
Father: ba
Mother: ma
Elder brother: hia
Younger brother: dia
Elder sister: jia
Younger sister:mia
Son: gia
Daughter: ŋia
Spouse (husband or wife): čia
The other family members are just modified from these 9 basic members. Let's take grandfather as example first. Wait, there are two kind of grandfathers, like "grandfather of father side" (in Chinese: 祖父 or 爺爺), or "grandfather of mother side" (in Chinese: 外公).
Let's see the "grandfather of father side" first. Since it's "father's father", so the Losunian is originally "ba de ba". But let's make it shorten: we change the vowel "a" to "e" in the first "ba", and then combine with the second one. So that is beba. That's it! beba is the grandfather of father side.
Likewise, the "grandfather of mother side" is "mother's father", so mother is ma, father is ba, let's change the the vowel "a" to "e" in the first word (ma), then combine with the second one (ba) --and that becomes meba--the "grandfather of mother side" in Losunian.
So, can you figure out how to say "grandmother of father side"(Chinese: 祖母 or 奶奶) and "grandmother of mother side"(Chinese: 外婆) in Losunian? Here they are the answers:
"grandmother of father side" = "father's mother" -->bema
"grandmother of mother side" = "mother's mother" -->mema
Now let's talk about the uncles and aunts.
Belows are "uncles". Note that in Chinese, they are called very differently and you have to memorize the new words. In Losunian, they are also called differently, but you don't have to memorize anything new-- just modified from the 9 basic members, and the method are just like what the grandparents do.
Father's elder brother: uncle / 伯伯 / ba (father) + hia (elder brother) --> behia
Father's younger brother: uncle / 叔叔 / ba (father) + dia (younger brother) --> bedia
Mother's elder brother: uncle / 舅舅 / ma (mother) + hia (elder brother) --> mehia
Mother's younger brother: uncle / 舅舅 / ma (mother) + dia (younger brother) --> media
In English, "aunts' husband (spouse)" are all called as "uncles", too. So there are other 4 kinds of "uncles" in Losunian:
Father's elder sister's husband: uncle / 姑丈 / ba (father) + jia (elder sister) + čia (spouse) --> bejiečia
Father's younger sister's husband: uncle / 姑丈 / ba (father) + mia (younger sister) + čia (spouse) --> bemiečia
Mother's elder sister's husband: uncle / 姨丈 / ma (mother) + jia (elder sister) + čia (spouse) --> mejiečia
Mother's younger sister's husband: uncle / 姨丈 / ma (mother) + mia (younger sister) + čia (spouse) --> memiečia
And belows are the "aunts":
Father's elder sister: aunt / 姑姑 / ba (father) + jia (elder sister) --> bejia
Father's younger sister: aunt / 姑姑 / ba (father) + mia (younger sister) --> bemia
Mother's elder sister: aunt / 阿姨 / ma (mother) + jia (elder sister) --> mejia
Mother's younger sister: aunt / 阿姨 / ma (mother) + mia (younger sister) --> memia
Also in English, "uncles' wife (spouse)" are all called as "aunts", too. So there are other 4 kinds of "aunts" in Losunian:
Father's elder brother's wife: aunt / 伯母 / ba (father) + hia (elder brother) + čia (spouse) --> behiečia
Father's younger brother's wife: aunt / 嬸嬸 / ba (father) + dia (younger brother) + čia (spouse) --> bediečia
Mother's elder brother's wife: aunt / 舅媽 / ma (mother) + hia (elder brother) + čia (spouse) --> mehiečia
Mother's younger brother's wife: aunt / 舅媽 / ma (mother) + dia (younger brother) + čia (spouse) --> mediečia
Next are your brothers' or sisters' spouse. There seems no specific words to call in English. In Chinese, you have to memorize the new words. In Losunian, likewise, just modified from the 9 basic members.
Elder brother's wife: 嫂 / hia (elder brother) + čia (spouse) --> hiečia
Younger brother's wife: 弟媳 / dia (younger brother) + čia (spouse) --> diečia
Elder sister's husband: 姐夫 / jia (elder sister) + čia (spouse) --> jiečia
Younger sister's husband: 妹夫 / mia (younger sister) + čia (spouse) --> miečia
Next, your "cousins".
There are 8 different cousins in Chinese, while in Losunian, there are sixteen! But all of them are just modified from the basic members. For example, the "father's elder brother's son" is called behiegia (in Chinese, it's called 堂哥 or 堂弟, depend on whether he is older or younger than you). For another, the "mother's elder brother's daughter" is called mehieŋia (in Chinese, it's called 表姐 or 表妹, depend on whether she is older or younger than you). But such kind of method to call your cousins is rare in daily conversation. The more common way to call "cousins" in Losunian, are just the same as Chinese do.
In Losunian, cousins that are your father's brother's sons or daughters are considered "the same ancester" with them, and it is always true that you share the same family name as them. That's called "toŋzoŋ" in Losunian. (In Chinese, these are 堂哥，堂弟，堂姐，堂妹). While the other cousins, their family names are different from yours, and that's called "paŋzoŋ" (In Chinese, these are 表哥，表弟，表姐，表妹).
Then, depending on whether the cousins are male or female, younger or older, you then add the name as hia, dia, jia, or mia, just like those of your siblings!
For example, the "father's elder brother's son"... he always share the same family name as yours, so it's a "toŋzoŋ" cousin. Then pretend if he is older than you. If it is your siblings, you may called him as hia in Losunian. So that's toŋzoŋ hia.
If he is younger than you, you have to called it toŋzoŋ dia.
For another, the "mother's elder brother's daughter" ... her family names are probably different from yours, so it is a "paŋzoŋ" cousin. Then imaging she is older than you. Then you have to called it paŋzoŋ jia.
If you want to call your cousins' spouses, almost all are called like this. For example, toŋzoŋ diečia means the toŋzoŋ dia's wife. ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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