For example:
- there are different specific words for your paternal and maternal grandparents,
- there are different specific words for your son's children and your daughter's children,
- there are different specific words for your sister's husband/husband's brother/wife's sister/brother's wife/husband's sister/wife's brother - and some of them are different if the sibling in question is older or younger than you or your spouse (and to add to things, many people refer to their first cousins as their brothers and sisters...)
- the one exception we found was that the words for your mother-in-law and father-in-law are the same in both directions.
- when you get married, one's spouse's Abu and Ami (Dad and Mum, informal) also become yours - since your families are now one.
We didn't even get started on aunts/uncles/cousins...
It's obvious how important family relationships are here. We took heart from the fact that our teachers couldn't remember all the words either!
