Aunt – 姑姑 – gū gū, 阿姨 – ā yí, 伯母 – bó mǔ, 嬸嬸 – shěn shen, 舅媽 – jiù mā

In one of my previous posts, I talked about the very specific way in referring one’s relatives in the Chinese language. Today, I will tackle Aunts. As you can see from the title, it’s rather confusing.

姑姑 – gū gū is a generic name for father’s sisters. Variations can also include 姑媽, gū mā, which refers to father’s older sisters.
阿姨 – ā yí, again is a generic name for mother’s sisters. 姨媽, yí mā, is for mother’s older sister if one wish to be extremely proper.
伯母 – bó mǔ, refers to father’s older brother’s wife.
嬸嬸 – shěn shen, refers to father’s younger brother’s wife.
舅媽 – jiù mā, refers to mother’s brother’s wife.

For a more detailed outline of the various titles for your relatives, you can refer to the last page of the book The Day I Got Up Early, by Lai Ma, available on our site, at www.mypandapaws.com. Happy Reading!