Which side of the family

Learning outcome

You can name the relation from the parent it passes through, and you can keep English and Hindi from collapsing two different relations into one word.

Concepts and reasons

A blood relation is a path through parents, children, or siblings. The side matters. Your father's brother is your paternal uncle. Your mother's brother is your maternal uncle. English uses uncle for both, so the question must say father's or mother's before you can choose paternal or maternal. Your father's sister is your paternal aunt. Your mother's sister is your maternal aunt. Your brother's son and your sister's son are both your nephew in English. Hindi does not collapse them: a brother's son is a bhatija, and a sister's son is a bhanja. A brother's daughter is a bhatiji. A sister's daughter is a bhanji. A son's son and a daughter's son are both a grandson in English. Hindi uses pota for a son's son and nawasa for a daughter's son. Do not swap those.

Worked examples

1. My mother's brother is my maternal uncle. In Hindi he is mama.
2. My father's sister is my paternal aunt. In Hindi she is bua.
3. My brother's daughter is my niece in English and my bhatiji in Hindi. She is not a bhanji. A bhanji is a sister's daughter.

Common traps

Uncle alone does not tell you the side. Ask whose brother he is. Do not translate nephew as bhatija every time. If the child is a sister's son, Hindi says bhanja. Cousin is not an uncle. A cousin is the child of an uncle or an aunt.

Practice questions

1. What is your mother's brother to you, in English?
2. What is your father's sister called in Hindi?
3. What is your sister's son called in Hindi?

Answers and explanations

1. Maternal uncle. He is your mother's brother. Hindi: mama.
2. Bua. She is your father's sister, a paternal aunt.
3. Bhanja. A sister's son is a bhanja. A brother's son is a bhatija.

Analogy

The family is a road with two lanes, one through the father and one through the mother. The same English word, uncle, can stand in either lane. Hindi puts a different name on each lane.

Quick reference

• Father's brother: paternal uncle. Mother's brother: maternal uncle, mama.
• Father's sister: paternal aunt, bua. Mother's sister: maternal aunt, mausi.
• Brother's son: nephew, bhatija. Sister's son: nephew, bhanja.
• Son's son: grandson, pota. Daughter's son: grandson, nawasa.