Kinship terminology

Kinship terminology refers to the words used in a specific culture to describe a specific system of familial relationships. Kinship terminologies include the terms of address used in different languages or communities for different relatives and the terms of reference used to identify the relationship of these relatives to ego or to each other.

Systems of Kinship Terminology

There are four main systems of kinship terminology: the Sudanese system, the Eskimo system, the Hawaiian system, and the Iroquoian system. Each of these systems reflects different degrees of complexity and different kinds of kin relationships.

Sudanese System

The Sudanese system is the most complex of the kinship systems. It distinguishes relatives by side and generation, and also considers the sex of the relative and the linking relative. It is used by very few societies; the Sudanese society is one of them.

Eskimo System

The Eskimo system, also known as the Lineal system, is the kinship system of most Europeans and Americans. It distinguishes between lineal relatives and collateral relatives. Lineal relatives are people in direct line of descent, such as parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren. Collateral relatives are people who are indirectly related, such as siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles.

Hawaiian System

The Hawaiian system is the simplest of the kinship systems. It only distinguishes relatives based upon their gender and generation.

Iroquoian System

The Iroquoian system is a kinship system that distinguishes between siblings of opposite sexes in the parental generation. It is named after the Iroquois, a historical confederacy of Native American tribes from the northeastern United States.

Importance of Kinship Terminology

Kinship terminology is important because it reflects social norms and cultural values. It can indicate the nature of interpersonal relationships within a community, the roles and expectations of those relationships, and the social and familial structure of the community.

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  Diagram of kinship systems
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  Illustration of trirelational kinship
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  Wouter Hanegraaff at the 2006 Alchemy Conference