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Family Vocabulary in Arabic Posted by on Mar 8, 2009 in Vocabulary

Terms used to express family relations in Arabic are more explicit than in English. This may reflect the importance of family and relations in the Arabic society. An example of the more explicit family relations terms in Arabic is that the term ‘uncle’ in English has 2 Arabic terms distinguishing ‘maternal uncle’ (خال) and ‘paternal uncle” (عم). Interestingly, the word ‘cousin’ in English has 8 equivalent terms in Arabic, distinguishing the gender of both the cousin and the uncle and the family link maternal or paternal. The Arabic equivalents of ‘cousin’ are (ابن عم / بنت عم / ابن خال / بنت خال / ابن عمة / بنت عمة / ابن خالة / بنت خالة).

The following table gives some family relations terms and their English equivalents.

Father

أب

Mother

أم

Son

ابن

Daughter

ابنة

Brother

أخ

Sister

أخت

Uncle (paternal)

عم

Aunt (paternal)

عمة

Uncle (maternal)

خال

Aunt (maternal)

خالة

Cousin

ابن عم

Cousin

بنت عم

Cousin

ابن خال

Cousin

بنت خال

Cousin

ابن عمة

Cousin

بنت عمة

Cousin

ابن خالة

Cousin

بنت خالة

Grandfather

جد

Grandmother

جدة

Grandson

حفيد

Granddaughter

حفيدة

Father-in-law

حمو

Mother-in-law

حماة

Husband

زوج

Wife

زوجة

Finance

خطيب

Fiancée

خطيبة

Son-in-law

ابن الزوج

Son-in-law

ابن الزوجة

Sister-in-law

أخت الزوج

Sister-in-law

أخت الزوجة

Brother-in-law

أخو الزوج

Brother-in-law

أخو الزوجة

Widower

أرمل

Widow

أرملة

Divorced man

مطلق

Divorced woman

مطلقة

Separated man

منفصل

Separated woman

منفصلة

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Comments:

  1. usman:

    grandson=hafeed;grand daughter=hafeedah.

  2. Aziza:

    شكراً جزيلاً
    table updated!

  3. Elizabeth:

    What about the wife of your maternal uncle. Is it khala or zowjat khal?

  4. Aziza:

    Ahlan Elizabeth,
    Wife of maternal uncle is زوجة خال

  5. Victoria:

    can anyone help me with finding out how little sister is written in arabic?

    • aziza:

      @Victoria Hi Victoria,
      little sister is أخت صغيرة
      my little sister is أختي الصغيرة
      Salaam,
      Aziza

  6. Nizumi:

    I’m trying to fnid the term for mother-in-law as in, “mother of my wife”. Is it different from mart’amo, which is what I call my husband’s mother?

    Thank you!

    • aziza:

      @Nizumi mother-in-law = حماة

  7. Ali Asghar:

    i need to know what you call husband of your daughter in arabic

    • aziza:

      @Ali Asghar husband = زوج
      daughter = بنت

  8. Ali Asghar:

    what you call husband of daughter in arabic

  9. Elif Su:

    heyy!! how do you say my mother’s paternal aunt, my mother’s male paternal cousin; etc in arabic? thanks!

    • aziza:

      @Elif Su my mother’s paternal aunt = عمة أمي
      my mother’s male paternal cousin = ابن عم أمي

  10. kristien:

    could you please tell me
    what mum, dad, big brother and family is in arabic writing and how to pronouce the name

    thank you

  11. ANMB:

    Another listing:

    Family Members in Arabic
    http://www.italki.com/groups/563/topic/30036.htm

  12. ANMB:

    Ahlan! I noticed on the vocabulary word of the day for 10-12-2012 (http://www.transparent.com/word-of-the-day/today/arabic.html?utm_campaign=wordoftheday&utm_medium=email&utm_source=bluehornet&utm_content=arabic&date=10-12-2012 )

    the distinction of which side of the family ‘ammah’ is referring to, in this case the father’s side or paternal, is missing.

    I also found another listing, but have compared it to that above, yet:

    Family Members in Arabic
    http://www.italki.com/groups/563/topic/30036.htm

    Shukran Jazeelan!

    Ma’a salaamah.

  13. Person:

    I know that to say ‘my’ something you have to add on ي at the end but how do you say ‘my’ father in law because I don’t know if you can add ي to و , so I’m confused.

  14. Hassan:

    shucron jazlin lil hata site!. It has helped with my study of Arabic. Is it posible, that you post yhe next w
    Ones with the vowels? Shucron jazilan…

  15. Dapsoma:

    Pls Aziz how do I call my father younger sister in Arabic,; pls reply through my E-mail

  16. najiyah:

    Can u please write the Arabic words used for
    Paternal grandmother
    Maternal grandmother
    Maternal uncle
    Paternal uncle
    Paternal aunt
    The pronunciation of these words ,please do it roman English
    Sorry for the inconvenience

  17. Nawal:

    Hi! I’m hoping someone could tell me how to write, “we are going to be great-grandparents!”

    I’m pregnant and would like to leave a note for my grandparents to read out loud to my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I’d ask my father, but I’d be giving away the suprise 🙂

    Thank you!

  18. Mrs. Saddam:

    Can i know how to tell these in arabic
    1. My husband’s sister
    2. My brother’s wife
    3. My husband’s brother
    4. My husband’s brother’s wife
    5. My husband’s sisters husband