Hindi/Family relations



Family relation names in Hindi are very specific to the speaker. For example, your father's brother and your mother's brother are not both just "uncle"; you would differentiate and address them using specific terms to indicate the precise relationship. These terms can vary a bit from place to place. The following are some standard examples.

Often the honorific suffix "-जी" is added to names to denote respect. Muslims (and sometimes Zorastrian Parsis), add the honorific suffix "-जान" to names to denote respect. It is very common to use when referring to or especially addressing an older relative, and sometimes for others depending on customs or the situation.

Great-grandparents
In Hindi, the prefix "great-" is given by the prefix "पर-".

There is some ambiguity when talking about great-grandparents because, for example, the term "परदादा" (pardada) can refer to either your father's father's father or your father's mother's father. Therefore, if there is a need to be more specific, spell out the exact family relation in full; e.g. "बाप के बाप के बाप" (bap ke bap ke bap), or "बाप की माँ के बाप" (bap ki ma ke bap).

Siblings & Siblings-in-law
** These two words ("साला" (sala) & "साली" (sali)) are also commonly used as pejoratives, so be careful when using them.

Cousins
There is no direct word for "cousin" in Hindi. If there is a need to be specific when referring to a cousin, then phrases like "uncle's son" or "aunt's daughter" are used. However, in general, they are simply referred to as "brother/sister" ("भाई/बहन").

Stepfamily
In Hindi, the prefix "step-" (or "half-") is given by the adjective "सौतेला".