Family Tree

old woman
波bō + 女
waves + woman

Picture your maternal grandmother as an old woman with waves in her skin.

Old Woman and the Sea (at home watching the waves).

lǎo

maternal grandmother
女 + 老lǎo
woman + old

Picture your maternal grandmother as a very old woman.

father

Picture a father with a child on each shoulder.

shēng

nephew-2
生shēng + 男
life/seed + male

Your sister has given life to a male. You have a nephew!

daughter-in-law
女 + 息xī
woman + breath

Give your daughter-in-law some breathing room. She might be feeling a lot of pressure.

elder sister
女 + *弟
woman + *younger brother

This is your evil elder sister, not your quiet older sister 姐(split personality if you don't have two?)

*younger brother with his horny head ripped off

sǎo

elder brother's wife
女 + 叟sǒu
woman + skeleton

This is your skinny (or dead) elder brother's wife, or maybe she dressed up for Halloween as a skeleton?

mother

a picture of breasts

sūn

grandchild
子 + 小
child + small

Small grandchildren are often taken care of by their grandparents in China.

father’s sister
女 + 古gǔ
woman + ancient

Picture your father's sister as an ancient woman.

shěn

auntie
女 + 审shěn
woman + painstaking

(This is your father's younger brother's wife, so picture her.) This auntie painstakingly grows beets inside her house.

zhí

nephew
亻 + 至zhì
persona + until

You won't have a nephew until your brother has a child.

You thought of your persona's son as your nephew until...

jiù

mother's brother
臼jiù + 男
rib cage + male

This is super skinny farmer Uncle Joe on your mother's side.

Picture your mother's brother with his rib cage showing.

婿

son-in-law
女 + 疋 + 月
woman + Spartan Race + month

Can you picture this dynamic in a family you know? A woman criticizes her son-in-law for taking a month to train for a Spartan Race.

father's older brother
亻 + 白bái
persona + white

Your father's older brother is the first persona in the family whose hair turned white.

xiōng

elder brother, *teenager
口 + 儿
mouth + human legs

A mouth with human legs is a teenager.

Picture your elder brother as a teenager with a big mouth and long legs.

mèi

younger sister
女 + 未wèi
woman + not yet

Picture your younger sister, always being told “not yet”.

A younger sister, named Mae, is not yet a woman.

jiě

older sister
女 + 且qiě
woman + shelves

Your older sister (named Jenna?) has her shelf of books you can’t touch.

older brother
可 + 可kě
can + can

Picture your older brother doing the can-can.

mama
女 + 马mǎ
woman + horse

Does your mama like horses?

papa
父 + 巴bā
father + boa

Picture your papa, a father protecting his children from a boa.

grandfather
父 + 卩jié
father + stamped

Picture a stamped original passed from your grandfather to your father.

nǎi

milk [n.]
女 + 乃nǎi
woman + fist

A woman squeezes her fist and gets milk.

This is also a name for your paternal grandmother. Maybe she is the one who taught her granddaughters how to milk?

gōng

public [adj.]
八 + 厶
eight + monument

Public bus #8 goes to the monument.

This character can also refer to an old man. Picture your maternal grandfather taking public bus #8 to a monument.

shū

uncle
上 + 小 + 又
above + small + again/right hand

"Uncle Schubert is put in charge of the small kids again." (Uncle Schubert)

Picture this dynamic in your family: Above the small child is the father and his right-hand man is his brother, the uncle.

maternal aunt
女 + 夷yí
woman + barbarian

The relatives on the woman's side were considered the outsiders. Does one of your maternal aunts remind you of a barbarian?

alternatively: 女+大+弓 woman + large + bow Picture an ayi defending kids with a large bow.

Family Tree

Quiz

lǎo

maternal grandmother

maternal aunt

mèi

younger sister

jiě

older sister

sǎo

elder brother's wife

daughter-in-law

older brother

gōng

public [adj.]

father's older brother

xiōng

elder brother, *teenager

jiù

mother's brother

Show Answers