Somali culture is respectful of elders and relatives. Elders are often referred to as aunty, uncle, grandmother or grandfather whether they are blood relatives or not out of respect. Cousins, uncles and aunties are named according to whether they are on the maternal or paternal side. There are at least three different names for cousin – inaadeer, inaabti or habarwadaag. Aunty is either habaryar on your mother’s side or edo on your father’s side. Their children would be called habarwadaag or inaabti respectively. Uncle is adeer on your father’s side or abti on your mother’s side and their children are either inaadeer or inaabti respectively.
There is no name for nephew or niece, believe it or not. Instead the same name is used by both adult and child. For example Edo, father’s sister, will address her nephew or niece with the same term of endearment in conversation – edo. When speaking about her niece to another person she will probably refer to her as ‘inantan edo u ahay’ (the girl I am an aunty to). Similarly, her nephew will be ‘inankan edo u ahay’ (the boy I am an aunty to). They will refer to their aunt as ‘Edo’ (aunty) or ‘edaday’ (my aunty). Grandmother (ayeeyo), grandfather (awoowo) are the same whichever side of the family they are on. Confused?
The video below explains family relationships. Click on the image.
