<p>曾祖父, 曾祖母, 外曾祖父, and 外曾祖母 are only used in formal writings.</p>

<p>Paternal great-grandparents are 太爷爷/太奶奶.</p>

<p>(To help you memorize them, 爷爷 and 奶奶 are paternal grandparents.)</p>

<p>Maternal great-grandparents are 太姥爷/太姥姥 in the north and 太公公/太婆婆 in the south.</p>

<p>(姥爷/姥姥 and 公公（外公）/婆婆 （外婆）are maternal grandparents.)</p>

<p>I expect these terms to vary greatly in different regions and families. I was told to somehow call my maternal great-grandmother 太太, which also means "lady."</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-16T20:14:50.460Z
2012-05-16T20:14:50.460Z
gonnastop
<p><a href="http://baike.baidu.com/view/7023871.htm">The answer is yes</a>.</p>

<p>曾 is for paternal paternal ancestors, 曾外 for paternal maternal ancestors, 外曾 for maternal paternal ancestors, and 外曾外 for maternal maternal ancestors.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-16T08:32:02.850Z
This is one of the aspects of Chinese that I don't think I'll ever nail down
Michael Robinson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-16T09:56:46.293Z
I just wanted to add that the Wikipedia article on Chinese kinship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_kinship#Common_extended_family_and_terminology) has tables of the various familial relationship terms.
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-16T10:49:34.957Z
That wiki-page is really interesting.
BertR
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-16T12:08:50.773Z
Another fun fact: kinship systems like Chinese in which each relation has a separate name are known as _Sudanese_, presumably after an archetypal instance.
jogloran
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-16T06:29:26.270Z
2012-05-16T06:37:54.530Z
2012-05-16T06:37:54.530Z
jogloran
<p>How do you refer to a specific great-grandparent? 
Does Chinese language has all 8 relationship titles to refer to one of them?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-16T05:10:08.647Z
What do you refert to by all 8 relationship?
Huang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-16T06:25:42.873Z
dusan means whether there's different words for: mother's mother's mother, mother's mother's father, mother's father's mother, etc. in the same way that we distinguish 祖母, 外祖母, etc.
jogloran
<vocabulary><kinship>
Referring to great-grandparents
# Referring to great-grandparents

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-05-16)

How do you refer to a specific great-grandparent?
Does Chinese language has all 8 relationship titles to refer to one of them?

**Tags:** vocabulary, kinship
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What do you refert to by all 8 relationship?  
> **username_2**: dusan means whether there's different words for: mother's mother's mother, mother's mother's father, mother's father's mother, etc. in the same way that we distinguish 祖母, 外祖母, etc.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-05-16. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

[The answer is yes](http://baike.baidu.com/view/7023871.htm).

曾 is for paternal paternal ancestors, 曾外 for paternal maternal ancestors, 外曾 for maternal paternal ancestors, and 外曾外 for maternal maternal ancestors.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: This is one of the aspects of Chinese that I don't think I'll ever nail down  
> **username_5**: I just wanted to add that the Wikipedia article on Chinese kinship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_kinship#Common_extended_family_and_terminology) has tables of the various familial relationship terms.  
> **username_6**: That wiki-page is really interesting.  
> **username_2**: Another fun fact: kinship systems like Chinese in which each relation has a separate name are known as _Sudanese_, presumably after an archetypal instance.  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2012-05-16. Score: 2

曾祖父, 曾祖母, 外曾祖父, and 外曾祖母 are only used in formal writings.

Paternal great-grandparents are 太爷爷/太奶奶.

(To help you memorize them, 爷爷 and 奶奶 are paternal grandparents.)

Maternal great-grandparents are 太姥爷/太姥姥 in the north and 太公公/太婆婆 in the south.

(姥爷/姥姥 and 公公（外公）/婆婆 （外婆）are maternal grandparents.)

I expect these terms to vary greatly in different regions and families. I was told to somehow call my maternal great-grandmother 太太, which also means "lady."


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