父 or 爸

[fij]

Hi,

I'm trying to figure out the difference between the usage of 父 and 爸. Is it such that 父 refers more generally to an older male relative while 爸 refers more specifically to father?

Thanks a lot.

[edelweis]

Do you mean as characters (in longer words) or as words?

In my quite short experience I have often heard 爸 by itself but I've never encountered 父 by itself.

And, yes, my understanding is that 爸 is used only in a few words that are related to someone's father, and it is rather informal. (though I feel it is used more freely by adults than the equivalent papa or daddy).

Whereas 父 is more formal and used in lots of words to express relationship with a male family member.

Link to MDBG list of words with 父

Link to MDBG list of words with 爸

[Don_Horhe]

父亲 is more formal than 爸(爸), while 爹 is oldish of sorts.

Edelweis beat me to it.

[renzhe]

And all these characters (父, 爸, 爹) mean "father", there is no semantic difference other than the large difference in register (like the other posters said, 父 is considerably more formal, usually used in 父亲 and other compounds).

As with many other characters, they are bound to the specific compounds. So you can say 师父, but not 师爸 or similar.

[flow]

i want to second it is register which makes 父 (and 母) different from 爸 (and 媽). it is awkward for a grown-up to use 爸爸 or 媽媽 instead of 父親 or 母親 in formal contexts; 爸爸 is a lot like 'dad' or 'daddy'.

[yonglin]

i want to second it is register which makes 父 (and 母) different from 爸 (and 媽). it is awkward for a grown-up to use 爸爸 or 媽媽 instead of 父親 or 母親 in formal contexts; 爸爸 is a lot like 'dad' or 'daddy'.

I'm certainly no expert, but it seems to me that it would be somewhat strange to say 父亲 when calling your own father (to his face). I would use this term when talking about my father in a relatively formal setting (e.g., to people who don't know him).

If I talk directly to my father, or with my family (or perhaps close friends) about my father, I would use 爸. I think only children would use 爸爸.

I think there might be a regional dimension to the 爹 vs. 爸 thing as well (to further complicate issues).

[xianhua]

I think there might be a regional dimension to the 爹

And to complicate matters even further, 爹 takes on the meaning of grandfather in at least one Hubeinese city (I don't know how widespread that practice is as I'm only familiar with one dialect).

[Tian Li]

I'll add to what yonglin said. I think 父亲 for example refers to the relation rather than the name. For example you won't call someone on 父亲, but you would call someone 爸爸. 父母 is also used to mean parents. Thus, 父亲 refers to the formal relation, not the name on which you call him.

[Jane_PA]

爸：is more like dad, daddy in English. It could also be used as 爸爸， but usually I call my dad 爸，not 爸爸，just a habit of the family.

父亲： is father, quite formal. I may said 父亲 when I talk about my dad formally with somebody, but I would never call my dad 父亲 face to face, because that sounds some distance between my dad and me.

Also in Chinese, my mom's sister's husband is called 姨父 by me. I will call my dad' sister's husband 姑父. Or in the old time, I may also call my mom's brother 舅父, which is not common now. 姑父 and 姨父 are still the only way to call them. In the old time,my own teacher is 师父.

父 by itself is not used anywhere in my memory...

Pre condition: I am a northern person in China and southern tradition in China may/will be different.

爹 is more like old time or country side people to call their dads. I never heard any of my city lived friends or relatives call their dads 爹. But my parents called their dads 爹 because they grew up in the countryside...

[skylee]

Or in the old time, I may also call my mom's brother 舅父, which is not common now.

What is not common now? Having a 舅父, or calling someone 舅父? Do you mean you use another term for 舅父? 舅舅 perhaps?

[Jane_PA]

sorry for the unclearness. I think current people most likely call 舅舅，not 舅父, or call 大舅，二舅 according to the order of the age. 舅父sounds like too formal or from ancient time, like 红楼梦 time。

Still, I mean I am from northern part of China. Not exact sure how southern persons call.

[Zomac]

舅父 is prevalently used in some dialects such as cantonese and 舅舅 is not used at all. (we say 大舅父, not 一舅父; and 二舅父, 三舅父 to refer to their seniority.)

I agree that while 爸 almost exclusively refers to a father, 父 seems to be sometimes used to refer to a senior male with a very closed position with you, like the examples Jane PA mentioned. Another example is 師父 (not to confuse with 師傅).

[Jane_PA]

"舅父 is prevalently used in some dialects such as cantonese and 舅舅 is not used at all. (we say 大舅父, not 一舅父; and 二舅父, 三舅父 to refer to their seniority.)"

Really? 广东话的口语里叫舅父？So formal。

[xiaocai]

Well if dialects are included then I do call my dad's younger brother 三爸.

[Shi Tong]

Basic way to explain the useage of these words is that you would use 父 when making a speech about your father, and 爸 when you speak to his face.. it's not really that complicated..

Oh, and a little like you call your dad's younger brother 三爸, I call my dad 三八.

[xiaocai]

Basic way to explain the useage of these words is that you would use 父 when making a speech about your father, and 爸 when you speak to his face.. it's not really that complicated..

I believe this has already been mentioned in the first two replies, where as others are mainly for examples when 父 and 爸 are used to address people other than your father?

Oh, and a little like you call your dad's younger brother 三爸, I call my dad 三八.

Your dad or your father-in-law...?

[Shi Tong]

三八 to my father in law.. hahaha.. my dad doesn't understand Chinese, but I can always call him that too ;)

[Jane_PA]

In some dialect, like Beijing area, some people does call their father's brothers as 大爸，二爸，三爸，or 大爹，二爹，三爹 etc

[renzhe]

I would think that this is simply traditional, rather than dialectal. These are the traditional forms of address in a Chinese family.