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I saw an ask on this but it was too confusing for me to understand ^^;;

While I did do some research on the terms, I want to ask, is there no parental relations attached to them at all? Like maybe 伯母 refers to an aunt from the father's side 叔母 an aunt from the mother's side? Could this term also be used for a middle-aged neighbor?

I'm having troubles translating it into English into a sentence. The context I got this from would be "伯母が様子を見に来ては世話をしてくれていた"

harurookies
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  • I think this has something to do with whether your aunt is older (伯母) or younger (叔母) than your parent. I also heard that it can be used to address a middle-aged lady, but I'm not sure if it's common or polite. – rebuuilt Jun 10 '20 at 03:37

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伯母 : the father's or mother's elder sister

叔母 : the father's or mother's younger sister

In Japanese, the title for the father's side and mother's side are the same. As a comparison, in ancient China, female people don't have place in society, when they get married, they are not treated as their family members. 伯母 叔母 is always father's side title, mother side is 舅父 舅母 in Chinese.

sfy
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