"Family Connections are always worth preserving..."

Just a few fun bits from yesterday's class - family relationships are quite specific here.  You know how the inuit peoples have an unusually large number of different words for snow?  Well, in Bangladesh, there are a lot of words for family relationships, and they're different depending on whether you are muslim, hindu and where you live.  Some of it can be a bit confusing, especially since they sound like US English.

Here are my favorites (out the >70 I know of):

Baba - father (hindu)
Ma - mother (hindu)
Didi - older sister (hindu)
Dada - older brother (hindu)

Dada - Paternal grandfather (muslim)
Daddy - Paternal grandmother (muslim)

Nana - Maternal grandfather (muslim)
Nanny - Maternal grandmother (muslim)

Chacha - Paternal uncle (muslim)
Chachi - his wife (yes, the character from happy days, but I'm dating myself)

Momma - Maternal uncle (hindu)
Mommy - his wife

And my personal favorite:

Phuphu - Paternal aunt (muslim)

So my sister is a phuphu.