英語里各種親戚的稱謂

有位男士妙用表示大學(xué)學(xué)位的三個英文詞講了一則幽默：人生會經(jīng)歷的三個階段：沒結(jié)婚的時候是無憂無慮的bachelor(單身漢);結(jié)婚以后得做主持家事的一家之主(master);而一旦孩子出生，就變成了無微不至的大夫(doctor 即Ph. D.)。這三個英語詞bachelor、master、doctor (Ph. D.) 原本的一層含義分別是“學(xué)士、碩士、博士”，這里轉(zhuǎn)義一說，倒也能說得通，而且還挺傳神。

報紙上有時候常會說起某人是個eligible bachelor，富有、家境好、且又是單身，即所謂的“鉆石王老五”是也。“王老五”們找到意中人，準備跨入婚姻的殿堂之前，西方有習(xí)俗，在婚禮的前一天，準新郎得邀請一幫鐵哥們開個bachelor party，盡情狂鬧一番，因為第二天開始就得做中規(guī)中矩的盡責丈夫了。調(diào)皮、促狹一些的男友們有時會想出些歪點子，捉弄一下準新郎，以泄惋惜、妒忌、羨慕之情。

結(jié)婚以后，雙方的immediate family(直系親屬)就都變成了對方的in-laws(姻親)——father-in-law(岳父/公公)，mother-in-law(岳母/婆婆)，sister-in-law(姑子/姨子/嫂子/弟媳)，brother-in-law(內(nèi)兄、弟/大伯子/小叔子/姐夫/妹夫)等等。

一看中英文的對照，就知道英語對親屬的稱謂比起中文要簡單得多。中文按年齡、男方還是女方的關(guān)系等等為親屬冠之以不同的稱呼，而西方人似乎不太在乎這位親戚是父親這邊的(on the father's side)還是母親那邊的(on the mother's side)，一視同仁，給一個稱呼。

更有意思的是對distant relatives(遠親)的稱呼。cousin一詞不分男女，概括了所有“堂兄弟/姐妹;表兄弟/姐妹”。而 “侄子/外甥” 都是nephew;“侄女/外甥女”則都是 niece。不過，盡管英語中的稱謂不如中文的分工細致, "Blood is thicker than water"(血濃于水)是東、西方人都認同的。

那么，既然英語的家庭關(guān)系詞匯不難，我們來看看下面這段話，你是否能據(jù)此畫出一張 family tree (家譜圖)?

Stephanie is the youngest in her family. Her elder brother Mark is married with a son Kevin. Her sister-in-law Rose used to go to the same high school with Stephanie. Her sister Kate married Thomas Hawkins last year and they've just had a baby daughter Millie. Stephanie adores her nephew and niece. Bart and Marie are Stephanie's cousins. They are children of Barbara and Peter. Aunt Barbara is the younger sister of Stephanie's father Gordon. Stephanie's mother Joy had a younger sister Liz who is divorced with a daughter Lily. Both grandparents on Stephanie's father's side have passed away. But her mother's parents Lucas and Nancy are living not far away from their house.