If your father/mather has a brother or brothers, in English, you will call him/them, UNCLE but do you know how to cal uncle in Indonesian?
Well, in short it’s quite different. You can’t just simply call your father/mother’s male siblings as uncle. You should know their position in a family tree i.e. an elder brother or a younger one. Each has their own call.
Father/Mother’s younger brother :
In modern society, you can call him “OM“. This word came from Dutch “Oom” which means younger brother of your father/mother. This is not commonly used in written as there is more formal word which is PAMAN.
People come from Central and East Java has different common word i.e. PAKLE or PAKLIK which is an abbreviation on BAPAK CILIK (Younger Father).
Father/Mother’s elder brother :
The most common call for father/mother’s elder brother is UWA or UWAK. It depends on the dialect but both are vastly used.
However, sometimes people from Javanese descendant use ‘PAKDE which is a short form of Bapak Gede or Bigger/Elder Father.
These callings are also used for a male person even he is only a distant relative to your father or mother. Even, it’s often used for your father/mother’s male friends with the same pattern.