Relative Terms

[sbk]

In light of the request of another member about mother father etc. I was curious about more distant relationships. I have a great nephew. Len (sorry no idea of the spelling, I have only ever heard it) What about great niece, is that also len or another word?

is there a word for great aunt? I have been told no and that the kid calls me grandma and great uncle gets grandpa. A tad distressing tbh!

And what about cousins? I only ever hear (southern thai here so bear with me) pi-nong for relatives in general . พี่น้อง

I've also heard lopi-lonong which is most definitely southern since lo is the shortened version of luk -- ลูก

[Rikker]

เหลน leen means "great-grandchild, grand-niece, grand-nephew" -- one generation removed from หลาน laan "grandchild, niece, nephew." So if the parent is your หลาน laan (in any of its meanings), their child is your เหลน leen. Some people also use โหลน loon for "great-great-grandchild," another generation of removal, but this doesn't get much use in practice, as you might imagine. Usually it's just used in the phrase ลูกหลานเหลนโหลน luuk-laan-leen-loon, to indicate many generations of descendants (the normal word for "descendants" is ลูกหลาน luuk-laan).

As for great aunts -- I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Those of the same generation of a person's grandparent -- are called ย่า yaa "paternal grandmother" or ยาย yaay "maternal grandmother", depending on which side of the family the person is on.

Likewise for great uncles -- ปู่ puu "paternal grandfather" or ตา taa "maternal grandfather", depending on the side of the family.

Cousins -- ลูกพี่ลูกน้อง luuk-phii-luuk-nong is the unambiguous term for "cousins", only used collectively, in situations similar to how you would use พี่น้อง for siblings. For example, เป็นลูกพี่ลูกน้องกัน pen luuk-phii-luuk-nong kan "we're cousins."

(Note: When used separately, the two terms ลูกพี่ luuk-phii and ลูกน้อง luuk-nong are usually only used figuratively. ลูกน้อง luuk-nong is an informal term for one's employees, most often in blue collar jobs. And ลูกพี่ luuk-phii is the informal but respectful way a subordinate might refer to his employer in such jobs. Sometimes these terms are associated with the seedy underbelly, so ลูกน้อง luuk-nong can mean "henchman" and ลูกพี่ luuk-phii can mean "(gang) boss".)

As you've noticed, in actual interaction, people refer to their cousins exactly as they would their siblings--with พี่ phii and น้อง nong. This is part of Thailand's village-style culture. This sometimes leads people to need to clarify that someone is their พี่แท้ๆ phii thae-thae or น้องแท้ๆ nong thae-thae "genuine sibling," meaning those who share at least one parent with them.

[sbk]

Bummer on the grandma front

[AjarnPasa]

It's a complicated world all these relationships. We have just had an addition to the family and suddenly all my wife's friends are now aunties, mothers, and uncles! It takes a village and all that.

Anyway, I have a compendium of the kinship terms on my blog if your interested. See my profile for the website address then look for the posts called All in the Family Parts 1 and 2.

[sbk]

Had a look thanks!

got a great story, my husband has a second cousin that is a nong, regardless of the fact he is at least 10 years older than us. So, I asked and was told, "Oh his grandfather and my grandfather were brothers and his grandfather was the younger brother."

[oevna]

I have also seen a most unusual case where a friend's older brother (who is also older than me) married a girl who is younger than both my friend and me. My friend refers to her younger sister-in-law as พี่ (phîi), and corrected me, telling me to do the same.

I have a feeling this is not common, and may only still exist in the countryside. Still, just when I thought I had all the familial relationship stuff down, they throw me a ringer.

[sbk]

No, actually, since she is the wife of the older brother she is phii. I have been told I should call my husband that since he is the husband despite the fact that he is two years younger than me. Needless to say, he doesn't get called phii

[Tod Daniels]

You might find my post on the “Other Thread” about relatives of interest too

It’s here:

My Post

Thais are just hung up about age and it knows NO boundaries! That's just how they are!

[Hardie]

Of course, if you're feeling desperate, then you can always just learn someone's given name.

[sbk]

Well, in fact, I know many peoples names, but was curious as to titles and since this is the Thai language forum felt it the best place to ask.

Trolling here is inadvisable, cheers.