Q1.
But what is the word for ‘cousin’ in an Indian language?
Answer
In most Indian languages there is no such word. The chapter answers its own question: “In most Indian languages, you will find that there is no such word! That is because cousins are only ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’.”
What Indian languages have instead is a way of saying which brother or sister — the relation is described through the parent, but the person is still called a brother or a sister.
| English | Hindi | What the Hindi literally says |
|---|---|---|
| Cousin (father’s brother’s son) | चचेरा भाई | “chacha-side brother” |
| Cousin (father’s sister’s daughter) | फुफेरी बहन | “bua-side sister” |
| Cousin (mother’s brother’s son) | ममेरा भाई | “mama-side brother” |
| Cousin (mother’s sister’s daughter) | मौसेरी बहन | “mausi-side sister” |
Notice that the noun never changes: it is always भाई or बहन. In everyday speech even the first word is usually dropped — you simply say bhai or bahan. The book’s own table on page 139 does exactly this: Rani, a mother’s brother’s daughter, is listed under the Hindi term बहन.
Why this matters, in the chapter’s words: “This emphasises the deep bonds among all the children in the family.” English puts your father’s brother’s son in a separate box marked ‘cousin’, one step further away than a brother. Indian languages refuse to make that step — he is your brother. The language itself teaches the child that the whole family’s children are one set of brothers and sisters.
Did you know? Indian languages are precise where English is vague. English has one word ‘uncle’; Hindi distinguishes chacha (father’s younger brother), tau (father’s elder brother), mama (mother’s brother) and phupha (father’s sister’s husband). Tamil goes further still and separates elder brother (aṇṇā) from younger brother (thambi), and elder sister (akkā) from younger sister (thangai) — as the chapter notes.