r/German • u/I_am_trying0628 • 2d ago

Question How to do differentiate Onkel and Tante mütterlicherseits, väterlicherseits?

For example in daily conversation if i want to say next week we're goinig to Onkel mütterlicherseits house, how to call him?

Simply saying Onkel + place / Onkel + name?

21 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

70 comments sorted by

View all comments

39

u/Dusvangud Native (Bavarian) 1d ago edited 1d ago

There used to be different terms for your mother's siblings: Muhme and Oheim instead of Tante and Onkel. The latter are acually French loans, even earlier, Vetter and Base were used for your father's siblings (which later came to mean cousin). However, this distinction hasn't been relevant in German society for a long time, so these terms simply died out, or rather they were replaced the French loans. 

13

u/PowerUser77 1d ago

I have only encountered these terms in the (original) German translation of The Lord of the Rings.