Burmese kinship


The Burmese kinship system is a fairly complex system used to define family in the Burmese language. In the Burmese kinship system:
Many of the kinship terms used in Burmese today are extant or derived from Old Burmese. These include the terms used to reference siblings and in-laws.

Grades of kinship

The Burmese kinship system identifies and recognizes six generations of direct ancestors, excluding the ego:
  1. Be - great-grandfather's great-grandfather
  2. Bin - great-grandfather's grandfather
  3. Bi - great-grandfather's father
  4. Bay - great-grandfather
  5. Pho - grandfather
  6. Phay - father
The Burmese kinship system identifies seven generations of direct descendants, excluding the ego:
  1. Tha -
  2. Myi -
  3. Myit -
  4. Ti -
  5. Tut or Hmyaw -
  6. Kyut -
  7. Hset -

    Extended family and terminology

Kinship terms differ depending on the degree of formality, courtesy or intimacy. Also, there are regional differences in the terms used.

Common suffixes

Burmese also possesses kin numeratives :
The Burmese kinship system also recognizes various relationships between family members that are not found in English, including:

Members of the extended family