Ahli KeluargaFamily Members

KELUARGAfamily

Ibu Bapa

Anak

IBU mother BAPA father ANAK child

Ibubapaparent

Anak lelaki son

Anak perempuan daughter

ANAK-ANAK children

Kakak

Adik (perempuan)

Abang

AyahEmak

Adik kepada Bart,kakak kepada Maggie.Younger sister to Bart, older sister to Maggie.

Abang kepada Lisa & Maggie.

Older brother to both Lisa & Maggie.

Adik kepada Bart & Lisa

Younger sisterto Bart & Lisa.

Bapa / AyahFather

Ibu / EmakMother

Adik perempuanYounger sister

Adik lelakiYounger brother

If you want to be specific about gender for younger brother / sister, just add

the gender. Lelaki = male, perempuan = female

Keluarga Simpson

Simpson’s Family

FATHERBapa / Bapak / Pak

AyahAbah

Papa (western influence)Walid (Arab influence)

Abi (Arab influence)

MOTHERIbu

Emak / MakMama / Mami

(western influence)Ummi / Ummu(Arab influence)

Royal family / Classical Malay (sometimes used in letter)Ayahanda : Father Bonda : Mother

Kekanda : Older Brother / SisterAdinda : Younger Brother / Sister

Various nouns for Malay family members

note: Those in Italic are usually conversational.

DATUKGrandfatherAtuk/Tok /Aki

NENEKGrandmother

Nek /Opah/Wan

IBU / EMAK SAUDARA

AuntMakcik

BAPA / AYAH SAUDARA

UnclePakcik

SEPUPUCousin

Nephew / niece: Anak saudara* Older male cousin: Abang saudara Older female cousin: Kakak saudara

Younger cousin: Adik saudara

*Saudara = Relatives Whatever the title as long as you have

blood relation, add ‘saudara’. i.e:Nenek saudara, atuk saudara

mak saudara...

saudara = sedara (conversational)Trivia: Distant cousins = 2 pupu, 3 pupu... depends on how far is the distance.

CULTURAL TRIVIA

• ABANG means older brother. In Malay culture, when a man and woman marry, or in

relationship, the woman may call the husband ‘abang’. Perhaps this is to portray that the

wife’s/lover’s love to her husband is as strong as a family blood and to show respect to the

‘older’ one. It is a norm that the husband is older in age but it is not a compulsory. The

husband, may call the wife ADIK which means younger sister but this is pretty rare except

in courtship stances, the guys would probably say: ‘Hai cik adik manis’ (Hi sweet little

sister).

• KEKANDA (older brother/sister) and ADINDA (younger sister/brother) is classic or used by

royals. Similar to the reason above, you would see in older Malay dramas that the female

lover call her darling ‘kekanda’ and the male lover would call his darling ‘adinda’. I believe

some romantic husbands and wives still uses this display of romance.

• Malay also have special names for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, youngest child and so on. This may be an

influence from Chinese culture. i.e: Along - 1st child (Bang long / kak long), Angah - 2nd

child (Kak ngah/bang ngah), and Usu, derived from the word 'Bongsu' that means the last

child (Usu / Ucu).

• In Malay culture, age and maturity is usually a big deal. The ‘title’ to indicate one is

older than another one is often paired with one’s name to indicate respect to that

person’s maturity. We would use ‘bang’ (shorten from ‘abang’) and ‘kak’ (shorten from

‘kakak’) to call our older sisters and brothers instead of just calling their names (as in

western culture). For example, if my older sister’s name is Aminah, I would call her Kak

Aminah and if my brother’s name is Borhan I would call him Bang Borhan instead of just

Aminah and Borhan. Sadly, this tradition is fading away gradually in families due to

modernization and western influence.

• The above matter also applies to outside family members. When we see someone is

older than us, even strangers, the prefix ‘bang' and ‘kak’ is usually used. This is also why

we always call people / strangers ‘pakcik’ (uncle) and ‘makcik’ (aunty) when they are as

old as our parents :D. We also call ‘adik’/’dik’ for younger people.

• When strangers appear to be about the same age or if it’s a formal/serious occasions,

we normally use Encik (Mister) for him, Cik (Miss) or Puan (Madam) for her. Tuan (Sir) is

usually used on someone of higher rank or an officer.

CULTURAL TRIVIA (cont.)