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Why is everyone assuming this is about Chinese??? CN is the class prefix for the Contacts.framework library, like every other Apple API. For example:

CoreLocation: CL (CLLocation)

SpriteKit: SK (SKScene)

CloudKit: CK (CKRecord)

CoreVideo: CV (CVBuffer)

LocalAuthentication: LA (LAContext)

So on and so forth...

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It's not about the "CN" bit. People are talking about why the variable exists at all. Essentially the reason being ventured is that that relationship has a specific name and meaning in Chinese with no English equivalent beyond an exacting familial definition. Imagine trying to express "grandfather" in a language that doesn't have the concept. You might end up with "father's father."

(I know nothing about Chinese. Just reporting what's been said elsewhere.)

> Imagine trying to express "grandfather" in a language that doesn't have the concept.

Or, for a more concrete example: "daughter-in-law". Many of the English "-in-law" relations may seem foreign to cultures with different conceptions of the extended family.

> Why is everyone assuming this is about Chinese???

Because the Chinese kinship system has a specific term for the relationship described by this constant.

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