Is it Ok to say the following words?

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kyawwin

Junior Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2015
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Burmese
Home Country
Myanmar
Current Location
Myanmar
cousin brothers / cousin sister.
 
If you are asking if we speak of 'cousin brothers' and 'cousin sisters' the answer is "No".
Those are accepted terms where I am from.
How do you distingush between male and female cousins then? Or you don't?
 
So it is a direct translation from our native language.
 
Then what expression can we use to distinguish male cousins from female ones?
 
Also, often the context or the cousin's name will provide a clue to gender, but as Piscean has mentioned, English doesn't normally bother with the distinction that other languages may make.

Czech also has separate words for a male or female cousin. Some languages even differentiate between relations from your father's side and your mother's side. Arabic for instance, distinguishes between paternal and maternal grandparents, and even male and female paternal and maternal cousins.

I have a few Burmese students, and I was unaware it made the distinction. I'm glad to have read your post, as I learned something new.

Kyawwin, you list your native language as Burmese - do you happen to know if this male/female cousin distinction also exists in some of the other languages of Burma, such as Arakanese and the Karen languages?
 
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Some languages even differentiate between relations from your father's side and your mother's side.
That is the case in my native language, but I am not a teacher.
 
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I don't know the languages of other ethnic groups in my country, but in Myanmar ( Burmese) , there is a clear distinction in referring to your elder male cousin or younger male cousin.
 
The terms "cousin brother/sister" are widely used in Indian (South Asian) English.
 
In my experience, the English-speaking world just tends to focus more on distance between relatives. As Skrej said, if we need more clarity we'll use a name, such as "My cousin Andy".

We also talk about "first" and "second cousins" and even "second cousins twice removed".

We occasionally say, "My paternal grandmother", or "My maternal aunt", but that would probably be at wider family gatherings where you are trying to explain how you fit in.

Isn't there some kind of joke about this sort of thing in English, along the lines of "My cousin's sister's brother"? I think the subject ends up being the speaker themselves.

I wish I could remember it.
 
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