{"id":2907,"date":"2016-07-18T17:42:23","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T09:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/?p=2907"},"modified":"2021-07-04T21:54:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T13:54:46","slug":"expat-guide-get-to-know-the-filipino-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/2016\/07\/18\/expat-guide-get-to-know-the-filipino-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Expats’ Guide: Get to know the Filipino Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most unique things about Filipinos is the strength of our family ties. This shows in the multitude of words we have for every member of the family. We\u2019re not only talking about your immediate family, but the entire extended family as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

To start with, any Filipino family is called either a pamilya<\/em> or mag-anak<\/em>. To be called a pamilya<\/em>, you\u2019d need a mother, a father, and a child. Anyone after that will be called your kamag-anak, <\/em>or a member of your extended family.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a couple without a child, Filipinos call you mag-asawa<\/em>, taken from the Filipino term for spouse: asawa<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

For any foreigner looking to learn Filipino and marry into a Filipino family, here are the words you should know so you don\u2019t get confused:<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediate Family<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"nuclear\"<\/p>\n

A SIMPLE FILIPINO FAMILY, relatively speaking. No grandparents, uncles, or aunts here. Photo courtesy of <\/em>MCC Jason Penny via Wikimedia Commons.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is who you should be closest to. Here are the terms for each member of the immediate or nuclear family: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Father \u2013 tatay\/itay\/ama<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Mother \u2013 nanay\/inay\/ina<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Parent \u2013 magulang<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Child \u2013 anak<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Brother\/sister \u2013 kapatid<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Older brother \u2013 kuya<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Older sister \u2013 ate<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the simplest set. However, as with most families there\u2019s usually more than one child, so here\u2019s the rest of the family in case there\u2019s more than two children:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Eldest brother \u2013 kuyang<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Eldest sister \u2013 ateng<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Second eldest brother \u2013 diko\/dikong <\/em>(pronounced as dee-ko\/dee-kong)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Second eldest sister \u2013 ditse<\/em> (pronounced as di-che)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Third eldest brother \u2013 sangko <\/em>(pronounced as sang-ko)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Third eldest sister \u2013 sanse <\/em>(sanse)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If there are more than 4 children in a family and your friend happens to be next in line, everyone else is just called kuya <\/em>or ate<\/em>. Bear in mind that you\u2019ll rarely hear these terms if you\u2019re in the metro; people are used to calling their older siblings as kuya <\/em>or ate<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Extended Family<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"extended\"<\/p>\n

A TYPICAL EXTENDED FAMILY in the Philippines includes the grandmother and grandfather along with all of their children and grandchildren. Photo grabbed from insocioproj.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is where things get tricky. Filipinos are known for having a lot of extended family members. Here\u2019s a list of the simplest ones to recognize:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Grandfather \u2013 lolo<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Grandmother \u2013 lola<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Grandchildren \u2013 apo<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Godfather \u2013 ninong<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Godmother \u2013 ninang<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Godchild – inaanak<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Uncle \u2013 tito\/tiyo<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Aunt \u2013 tita\/tiya<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Nephew\/Niece \u2013 pamangkin<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Cousin \u2013 pinsan<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re ever asked to be a godfather\/godmother and you have a child, you can tell them your godchild can be called their kinakapatid<\/em> or godbrother\/godsister.<\/span><\/p>\n

Be careful about tito<\/em> and tita<\/em> though: at times, even friends of Filipino parents get called tito<\/em> and tita<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In-laws<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, families are not just limited to your kin. There\u2019s also the matter of the in-laws:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Parents-in-law \u2013 biyenan <\/em>(used if you\u2019re referring to your in-laws), balae<\/em> (if your in-laws are referring to your parents)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Brother-in-law \u2013 bayaw<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Sister-in-law \u2013 hipag<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Child-in-law \u2013 manunang<\/em> (regardless of gender)<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot more where these came from, like a specific term for each level of grandchild or grandparent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep this list handy and be sure to leave a comment if you hear other terms used for family members that weren\u2019t mentioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Source: <\/em>Tagalog Lang<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>I Heart Manubays<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most unique things about Filipinos is the strength of our family ties. This shows in the multitude of words we have for every member of the family. We\u2019re not only talking about your immediate family, but the entire extended family as well. To start with, any Filipino family is called either a pamilya or mag-anak. To be called a pamilya, you\u2019d need a mother, a father, and a child. Anyone after that will be called your kamag-anak, or a member of your extended family. If you\u2019re a couple without a child, Filipinos call you mag-asawa, taken from the Filipino term for spouse: asawa. For any foreigner looking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1730],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-history"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2907"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9302,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2907\/revisions\/9302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}