Show Images By Tang Ming Tung / Getty Images Updated on February 04, 2019 Family relations are important in China, and traditionally, the father is the head of the household. There are many ways of saying "father" or "dad" in Chinese, but the most colloquial way is the focus of this article. Chinese Characters爸爸 ( bàba) means dad, or father, in Chinese. It is an informal term. The character is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese. Sometimes, 爸爸 is colloquially shortened to just 爸. PronunciationThe pinyin for 爸 is "bà," which means the character is pronounced in the 4th tone. But when saying 爸爸, the second 爸 is unaccented. Thus in terms of tone numbers, 爸爸 can also be written as ba4 ba. Other Terms for "Dad"As mentioned earlier, there are other ways to say "dad" in Chinese depending on a degree of formality and region. Here are a few examples: 父亲 (fùqīn): father, a more formal term 爹 (diē): dad, also informal and a regional term Sentence Examples Using Bàba Wǒ bà shì yīshēng.
Tā shì wǒ bàba. Regarding this last sentence, note that when you are saying "my father", "my mother" and so on, you normally don't add 的 to indicate familiarity, ie: 他是我的爸爸. It's not technically wrong, but it's also not usually said amongst native speakers.
Ever asked yourself why many of us have different ways of addressing our father? Some of us call them “dad”, some “pop”, some call them “Pa”. Even for babies who are learning their first words, some parents choose to teach them “dada”, while some prefer “papa”. Unsurprisingly, there are also many forms of the word in the Chinese language. Since Father’s Day is approaching, LingoAce would like to explore some of these commonly used “father figures” in the Chinese language. 1. “爸” (Bà)Probably the most commonly used Chinese character used to address our fathers. This character appeared in Chinese history when it was first written in an early version of the Chinese dictionary in the third century. One may attribute this to the English version of “papa”, but the English version is said to originate from the Greek language, not the Chinese. Hence “爸”, a term we all use so much actually dates back hundreds of years! In Singapore, many of us may also call our dads “老爸”, “爸爸” or just simply “爸”. 2. “父” (Fù)Probably the most commonly used Chinese character used to address our fathers. This character appeared in Chinese history when it was first written in an early version of the Chinese dictionary in the third century. One may attribute this to the English version of “papa”, but the English version is said to originate from the Greek language, not the Chinese. Hence “爸”, a term we all use so much actually dates back hundreds of years! In Singapore, many of us may also call our dads “老爸”, “爸爸” or just simply “爸”. 3. “爹” (Diē)The last character we are looking at today is “爹”. After gaining more usage after the Yuan dynasty, “爹” became the more commonly used term for father. Although today, it is less common (or maybe not used at all) to use “爹” to address one’s dad. However, we do see this term being used especially in period correct Chinese dramas that most of us like to watch. Maybe it would be fun to just go up to your dad and call him “爹” today. How do you address your father, have you ever thought about the different ways we can do so? How to do teach your child on how to address their father? We would like to hear from you! Let us know by leaving a comment down below. P.S. we are now holding a special contest for Father’s Day, where you can win exclusive prizes such as an iPad and printer, as well as free lessons with LingoAce. It is extremely easy to participate and is open to all. Find out more and hope to see your entry soon. Till next time! At LingoAce, we believe in providing every child a meaningful and memorable experience as they learn because learning Chinese is more than just learning the language. Find out more about how we can be fun and effective in learning the Mandarin Chinese language. Leave a ReplyThere are different ways to say father and mother in Chinese. The most popular one is 爸爸 (bà ba) and 妈妈 (mā ma), or just 爸 (bà) and 妈 (mā), which can be combined into 爸妈(bà mā), meaning parents. A bit more formal way to address father and mother is 父亲 (fù qīn) and 母亲 (mǔ qīn), which can be combined into 父母 (fù mǔ) or 父母亲 (fù mǔ qīn), also meaning parents. In Hong Kong, I quite often hear children address their father as “Daddy” and mother “Mommy”. It is not that Hong Kong children speak English with their parents. They use Cantonese when speaking to their parents, but addressing them in a different language. Another way to address father and mother is 爹 (diē) and 娘 (niáng). And the word for parents becomes 爹娘 (diē niáng). I read these terms many times in novels, heard these terms many times in films. But I personally don’t know anyone who addresses parents this way. Some say that these terms are more commonly used in rural areas. I can not verify that. There is another way to address father and mother in Chinese, 令尊 (lìng zūn) and 令堂 (lìng táng), which strikes me as very old fashioned and extremely polite and respectful. I have only seen these terms appear mostly in classic works. And I don’t think these two words can be shortened into a two-character word for parents. On the contrary, it is often expanded into 令尊大人 (lìng zūn dà rén) and 令堂大人 (lìng táng dà rén), to be even more polite and respectful. In Hong Kong, when you go hiking, you might spot tombs along the trails. If you read the tomb stones carefully, you may learn two new words for father and mother in Chinese, 考 (kǎo) for a deceased father and 妣 (bǐ) for a deceased mother. Deceased parents would be 考妣 (kǎo bǐ). Such as the following photo shows (read from right to left as in traditional Chinese books): In Chinese traditional culture, father always associates with being strict and mother always associates with being benevolent, hence the concept of 严父 (yán fù) and 慈母 (cí mǔ) is deeply embedded in Chinese literature. Father is to be feared and mother is to be loved. In reality, mother can also be very strict. The term “tiger mom”, 虎妈 (hǔ mā), has been very popular to describe Chinese moms. Although this is a relatively recent term, a strict mother is not a new concept. There are many stories about strict mothers in China. One such famous mother is the mother of Mencius (c. 371–c. 289 bc). One story goes that she destroyed perfectly good cloth just to teach her naughty son a lesson. What do they call dads in China?爸爸 ( bàba) means dad, or father, in Chinese. It is an informal term. The character is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese. Sometimes, 爸爸 is colloquially shortened to just 爸.
How do you address a Chinese father?3 ways to address your dad in Mandarin. “爸” (Bà) Probably the most commonly used Chinese character used to address our fathers. ... . “父” (Fù) Probably the most commonly used Chinese character used to address our fathers. ... . “爹” (Diē) The last character we are looking at today is “爹”.. What is Diedie in Chinese?to walk in a mincing gait (formal writing) 殜殜 dié dié
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How do you say dad in china
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