Term
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Definition
| "The marriage of a woman to two or more brothers. Syn. "Fraternal Polyandry |
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Term
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Definition
| "Relationship by marriage ties. May include the relationship between corporate groups linked by marriage between their members. A relative by marriage is an affine (RK:147; NG-12ff.; RF-35). "Whenever the connection between two relatives...includes one or more marital links, the two have no necessary biological relationship and are classed as affinal relative." (GPM:95). Contra. "consanguinity", "consanguine". (Note: The relationship of husband-wife in this context is somewhat ambiguous--a matter of some dispute amongst anthropologists.)" DT |
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Term
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Definition
| "Pertaining to the reckoning of relationship by male link(s) exclusively, regardless of sex of Ego and/or Alter. An agnate, then, is a person related by patrilineal descent (RK:147)." DT. "In Roman law agnati were kin who traced their relationship by descent through males only from a common ancestor, who were under the authority of a single paterfamilias, and who resided together. Agnati could be adopted. They included women, but no kin linked through a woman." GK:18. Contra. "uterine". |
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Term
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Definition
| "In kinship theory, this refers to a view of society which emphasizes marital interactions (usually repetitive) between descent groups as a basis for social integration and group definition (RF-231ff.; NG232ff.)" DT. As Keesing puts it "a system whereby descent groups or other kin groups are linked by a rule of prescriptive or recurrent marriage so that the groups remain in an affinal relationship to one another across generations" (RK:147). Contra. "descent theory". |
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Term
| Apical Ancestor (Ancestress) |
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Definition
| The ancestor/ess from whom descent is traced (the "apex" of the triangle of descendants). |
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Term
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Definition
| "A pattern of complete avoidance of speech and physical contact between relatives. Murdock (1949:273) suggests that such a technique is an aspect of sex regulation in societies where sexual prohibitions are not strongly internalized in enculturation." ES:72 |
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Term
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Definition
| "denotes the institutionalization of authority by the mother's brother over the sister's son and the latter being made the heir and companion of the former." GK:47. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Postmarital residence of a newlywed couple with husband's mother's brother. Some have argued that the terms "viri-avunculocal" or "avuncu-virilocal" are more precise." (RK:147) |
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Term
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Definition
| "Kinship traced to relatives through both father and mother. Syn. "consanguineal kinship". "(RK: 147) "In kinship studies this term is used in several ways. (a) All kinship is said to be bilateral in the sense that, whatever the principle of descent, an individual has kinship ties to and through both parents. (b) Only some systems are said to be bilateral; these are the non-unilineal systems, in which kinship ties traced through both parents have, or may have, equal social weight. (c) In the context of cross-cousin marriage, bilateral is used a synonym for symmetrical; i.e., bilateral cross-cousin marriage is the marriage of either kin of cross-cousin." GK:57. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A norm which permits a married couple to live with or near the parents of either spouse; a factor such as relative wealth of the two families is likely to determine where the couple will reside." ES:73. |
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Term
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Definition
| "...a relation of alliance or consociation by which individuals not related by kinship acquire ties of pseudo-kinship, the rights and duties that compose the relationship being modeled on those of brotherhood." GK:58. |
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Term
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Definition
| in which the groom contributes labor and/or services to the bride's group for validatory purposes." |
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Term
| Bridewealth (or Brideprice) |
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Definition
| "Tangible items of value transferred from the groom or groom's group to the bride's group, the prestation serving to validate the marriage union. |
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Term
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Definition
| "refers to: (a) the form of social organization found in India based on relgious beliefs in the supremacy of the Brahman, rigid ranking according to birth, and restrictions on occupation and marriage; (b) one of the Indian hereditary groups within this social system; (c) any hereditary and exclusive class elsewhere (usually pejoratively with connotations of discrimination or unfair privilege." GK:74. |
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Term
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Definition
| A unilineal descent group or category whose members trace patrilineal descent (patriclan) or matrilineal descent (matriclan) from an apical ancestor/ess, but do not know the genealogical links that connect them to the apical ancestor/ess (RK:148). In the common British anthropological sense, a descent group, usually consisting of several lineages, between which shared descent from an ancestor (or ancestress) is assumed but cannot actually be demonstrated (NG-164; RF 49). Many American anthropologists, following Murdock (1949), regard a "clan" as the localized core of a dispersed unilineal descent group (i.e., a patri- or matri-sib) or non-unilineal descent group (i.e., a sept) (NG-204). An earlier, and now obsolete usage regarded the "clan" as a matrilineal descent group, as opposed to a patrilineal descent group, which was termed a "gens" (plur. gentes; adj. gentile) (NG-37). DT. "Clan was used originally in anthropology to refer to Teutonic and Scottish society...Different authors have used the term to refer to various types of descent group." GK:95 |
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Term
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Definition
| A bilateral (consanguineal) kinsman or kinswoman |
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Term
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Definition
| Sense #1: A mode of descent reckoning where all descendants of an apical ancestor/ancestress through any combination of male or female links are included (preferred sense). Sense #2: Synonymous with "bilateral" or "consanguineal". Syn. "bilateral kinship". RK. |
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Term
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Definition
| "The siblings of lineal relatives (parents, grandparents) and their descendants.: RK:148. Contra. "Lineal Kinsmen" |
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Term
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Definition
| "The collection of rights, obligations, sentiments, etc. which are attached to the immediate line opposite that by which formal descent is reckoned. E.g., complementary filiation is matrilateral in a patrilineal society (RF-233; NG-87, 169)." DT. "In the work of Fortes, Goody and others the relationship between a person and his/her maternal uncle and his lineage (in a patrilineal descent system); or between person and his/her paternal aunt/uncle and their lineage (in a matrilineal descent system)." (RK:148). Contra. "Descent" |
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Term
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Definition
| "Consists of three or more spouses and their children; it may be produced in monogamous societies by a second marriage giving rise to step-relationships." ES:74. |
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Term
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Definition
| Relationship by blood (i.e., presumed biological) ties. A consanguine is a relative by birth (i.e., a "blood" relative), as distinguished from in-laws ("affines") and steprelatives. (NG:12ff.; RF:33; RK:148). Contra. "affinity", affine(s)". |
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Term
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Definition
| "A social group whose members act as a legal individual in terms of collective rights to property, a common group name, collective responsibility, and so on." (RK:148) |
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Term
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Definition
| "In alliance theory (especially in its early versions), a rule or practice of marriage between father's sister's child and mother's brother's child (a man's marriage with MBD is "matrilateral cross-cousin marriage"; a man's marriage with FZD is "patrilateral cross-cousin marriage")" RK:148. |
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Term
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Definition
| The children of opposite-sexed siblings; similarly, the offspring of one's parents' opposite-sexed siblings. E.g., MBC or FZC. Contra. "parallel-cousins" (RF 185; NG-240). DT. |
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Term
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Definition
| Proposed by Blumberg and Winch (1972), it "states that: (1) the independent family is the typical family type in small hunting and gathering societies and in large, industrialized societies; (2) the extended family is the typical family type in settled, agricultural societies. Thus, there is a curvilinear relationship between family type and societal complexity." LM:87. See Rae L. Blumberg and Robert F. Winch (1972) "Societal Complexity and Familial Complexity: Evidence for the Curvilinear Hypothesis" American Journal of Sociology 77:898-920. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A relationship defined by connection to an ancestor (or ancestress) through a culturally recognized sequence of parent-child links (from father to son to son's son= patrilineal descent, from mother to daughter to daughter's daughter = matrilineal descent" (RK:148). In other words descent is the tracing of relationships inter-generationally through real, putative, or fictive parent-child links. Various typologies of descent have been proposed |
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Term
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Definition
| "A kin group whose membership is based on a rule of descent. Appropriate descent status (patrilineal, matrilineal, or cognatic, depending on the society) entitles a person to be a member of the group." (RK:148). A socially recognized group of persons, all of whom trace real or putative descent from a common ancestor (or ancestress) with parent-child links between every generation. In-marrying persons ("affines") may or may not be assimilated to this group as formal members (RF-49; NG-1). |
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Term
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Definition
| "A descent principle culturally used to define eligibility for membership in a kin group" RK:148. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A social group occupying or centered in a dwelling house, living (and usually eating) together, and characteristically exercising corporate control over family property." RK:149. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A system whereby two sets of social groups or categories exist (for different purposes) in the same society, one based on patrilineal descent and the other on matrilineal descent (so a person belongs to his/her father's patrilineal group and his/her mother's matrilineal group)." RK:149. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A requirement for marriage within a defined category or range or group or community ("in-marriage"). All societies are minimally endogamous in that they limit marriage to members of the same species; most limit marriage to members of the opposite sex." RK:149. Contra. "Exogamy". |
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Term
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Definition
| Marriage to person(s) outside the group, however defined (e.g., descent, locality, castes, etc.). Contra. "Endogamy" |
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Term
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Definition
| "A domestic group or composite of domestic groups consisting of two or more nuclear families linked together through parent and child (patrilineal extended family, matrilineal extended family) or through siblings (fraternal or sorroral extended family)." (RK:149). The social unit, usually co-residing, consisting of two or more nuclear families affiliated through an extension of parent-child relationships; i.e., the nuclear family of a married adult joined to that of his/her parents (NG-359). |
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Term
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Definition
| GP Murdock (1949):1 "...a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction." Others argue that the family should be considered as a kinship group and should not be confused with other social groups based on common residence (household) or function (domestic unit) |
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Term
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Definition
| The nuclear family into which Ego was born and reared, consisting of his father, mother, brothers and sisters (GPM: 13; NG-365). Contra. "Family of procreation" |
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Term
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Definition
| The nuclear family which Ego establishes by marriage, consisting of his/her "wife/husband", sons and daughter (GPM:13; NG-365). Contra. "Family of orientation" |
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Term
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Definition
| "A relationship, such as godparenthood, modeled on relations of kinship, but created by customary convention rather than the circumstances of birth." RK:149 Examples include "blood brothers", "godparents". ES:5. Some would make a distinction between "fictive" kin and "putative" kin, the latter including adopted children. |
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Term
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Definition
| "The norm that allows a man to inherit his father's widows, except his own mother. It can occur only in polygynous tribes but even then is rare." ES:76. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Relationship to or through one's father and one's mother, or the basing of rights on this relationship." RK:149. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Consists of two or more brothers and their wives (and children); the bond of union is consanguineal." ES:76. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A family consisting of several brothers with one wife in common." ES:76. See "Adelphic Polyandry" |
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Term
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Definition
| where the husbands are brothers (to one another) (NG-365ff.) |
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Term
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Definition
| Biological father (genitrix = biological mother). Contra. "pater." |
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Term
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Definition
| Biological mother (genitor = biological father). Contra. "mater". |
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Term
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Definition
| A marital union involving several women and several men at once (GPM: 24). It does not appear to ever have existed as the cultural norm or the prevailing type of union in any known society. |
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Term
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Definition
| Denotes a marriage rule prescribing union of a female with a male of higher status. Contra. "Hypogamy" |
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Term
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Definition
| Denotes a marriage rule prescribing union of a female to a male to a male of lower status. Contra. "Hypergamy" |
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Term
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Definition
| "Sexual intercourse between two persons who are related by a real, assumed, or artificial bond of kinship that is regarded as a bar to sex relations. Where sex relations are forbidden, but not because of kinship, they may be called mismating. Where either party occupies a status forbidding sex relations, e.g., a nun, sexual intercourse may be termed status unchastity. (Murdock 1949:261)." ES:76. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A rule prohibiting sexual relations between immediate kin (father and daughter, mother and son, brother and sister) and others culturally defined as in an equivalent relationship. Differs from "exogamy", which prohibits marriage but not necessarily sexual relations." RK:149. |
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Term
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Definition
| two or more nuclear families who form a corporate economic unit. LM:86 |
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Term
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Definition
| "Patterned behavior between kin that calls for mild to taunting or ribald joking." ES:76. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A social group whose members define their relationship (or their eligibility for membership) by kinship or common descent." RK:150. ES:76. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A social group or category consisting of an individual's circle of relatives, or that range of a person's relatives accorded special cultural recognition." RK:150. "A group of persons, all of whom have a single relative (Ego) in common who is not an ancestor of theirs. It follows that the only persons having identical kindreds would be full siblings. (RF-164; NG-205)." DT |
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Term
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Definition
| "Relationship based on or modeled on the culturally recognized connection between parents and children (and extended to siblings and through parents to more distant relatives.)" RK:150. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A system where a dead man's brother (or equivalent close male relative) succeeds to his status as husband, by marrying his widow." RK:150. "Rule whereby a man is entitled to inherit the widow of his deceased brother. Also, Leviratic polyandry: simultaneous marriage of a woman to two or more men who are brothers (to one another)." DT Contra. "Sororate" |
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Term
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Definition
| "A unilineal descent group based on patrilineal descent (patrilineage) or matrilineal descent (matrilineage) whose members trace descent from an apical ancestor/ancestress by known genealogical links." RK:150. "A descent group in which the links connecting living members with a common ancestor (or ancestress) may be actually demonstrated. Variations: patrilineage, where links are traced exclusively through the male lines; matrilineage, where links are traced exclusively through the female lines; cognatic lineage, where links are traced through both sex lines" (RF-49). DT. |
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Term
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Definition
| Direct descendants and ancestors to whom Ego has an unbroken chain of parent-child linkages. For example, Ego's father, mother's father, father's father's mother's father, son, son's daughter's son, etc. Contra. "Collateral Kinsmen" |
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Term
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Definition
| Mater: Sociological mother (pater = sociological father), not necessarily biological mother. Contra. "genitrix". See genitor. |
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Term
| Matri-patrilocal Residence |
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Definition
| "A pattern of initial matrilocal residence followed by permanent patrilocal residence." ES:77. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Rule of the family (and society) by the mother; no strictly matriarchal societies are known. "Maripotestal" is a synonym for matriarchal." ES: 77. |
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Term
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Definition
| Those kinship relationships one acquires through mother. One's kinsmen and kinswomen on "mother's side". |
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Term
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Definition
| A unilineal descent group based on matrilineal descent. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A principle of descent from an ancestress through her daughter, her daughter's daughter, and so on (in the female line)" RK:150. |
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Term
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Definition
| A post-nuptial residence pattern in which the newly wed couple establishes residence with wife's group. Some would restrict this usage to those societies which have unilineal descent groups. See uxorilocal residence. Contra. "patrilocal". |
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Term
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Definition
| "A division of a society into two social categories or groups, characteristically by a rule of patrilineal descent (patri-moiety) or matrilineal descent (matri-moiety)." RK:150. "The formally recognized "halves" of a society which regularly interact in prescribed manners. Most authors consider moiety intermarriage to be criterial to the definition, but many societies possess non-exogamous moieties which interact in ritual and ceremonial contexts unconnected with marriage (NG-155); RF 182)." DT. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A form of marriage which limits a person to only one spouse at a time. Lowie (1948:114) estimates that few people in history practiced monogamy on principle but that the majority, in fact, led monogamous lives." ES:77. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rules which stipulate only "whom one should not marry but have no rule about the actual choice of partner. RF:199. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Residence of a couple after marriage in a new household not linked spatially to that of the groom's or the bride's kin (cf. virilocal, uxorilocal)" RK:150. |
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Term
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Definition
| "An alternative term to "cognatic descent." Since cognatic descendants include patrilineal descendants and matrilineal descendants this usage is unfortunate. I have suggested that the term be used in societies that recognize a unilineal core within a cognatic descent category to denote descent status through at least one alternate-sex link (i.e., non-agnatic where descent includes at least one female link, nonuterine where it includes at least one male link)." RK:150. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A family unit consisting of parents and their dependent children." RK:150. "The social unit, based on real or putative or fictive blood ties, and consisting of a male, his wife, and their dependent offspring. Also called "elementary family" or "conjugal family" (RF-36; NG-358)." DT |
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Term
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Definition
| "The children of same-sexed siblings; similarly, the offspring of one's parents' same-sexed siblings. E.g., MZC (RF-185)." DT "Ego's father's brother's child or mother's sister's child, or more distant cousin classed terminologically with these first cousins." RK:150. Contra "Cross-cousins". |
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Term
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Definition
| Sociological father (mater = sociological mother), not necessarily biological father. Contra. "genitor". See "genitrix". |
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Term
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Definition
| Those kinship relations one acquires through father. One's kinsmen and kinswomen on "father's side." |
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Term
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Definition
| A unilineal descent group based on patrilineal descent. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Descent traced through a line of ancestors in the male line. Syn. "Agnatic Descent"" RK:150. |
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Term
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Definition
| Residence of a married couple with the husband's group. Some would restrict this usage to those societies with unilineal descent groups. See virilocal residence. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A grouping of clans related by traditions of common descent or historical alliance based on kinship." RK 150 "Recognized, often named social group consisting of two or more clans recognizing relationship to one another, the implication being that there are two or more such clan-sets ("phratries") in a given society (NG-35; RF-92)." DT. (NOTE: If there are only two phratries then they are called moieties. Therefore, there must be at least THREE such groupings of clans before we can speak of phratries.) |
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Term
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Definition
| Marriage of a female to two or more males. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Plural marriage, of which there are two major types: polygyny and polyandry (RF-58,87)" DT. |
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Term
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Definition
| Marriage of a male to two or more females. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rules which stipulate "not only whom one may not marry , they specify also whom one should marry. RF:199. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A marriage pattern (e.g., marriage with a cross-cousin, a brother's widow, etc.) that is socially valued and desirable, but not enjoined." RK:151 |
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Term
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Definition
| "In alliance theory, a requirement that marriage be with a partner in a particular kinship category. Even where "incorrect" marriages occur, they are likely to be classed as if they were correct, and kinship relations readjusted accordingly." RK:151. |
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Term
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Definition
| Ego's parents and siblings in his family of orientation and his spouse and children in his family of procreation. GPM:14 |
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Term
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Definition
| An inheritance rule which favors the first born child in a family. Contra. "ultimogeniture" |
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Term
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Definition
| "Referring to conventional rules or patterns of behavior concerning the place a couple lives after marriage. Usually expressed with the suffix"-local", thus, "virilocal"-residence with the husband's group (NG-240ff.; RF-84)." DT. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Behavior patterns between kin that involve standardized ways of showing respect." ES:79. |
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Term
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Definition
| The primary relatives of Ego's primary relatives (who are not, of course, also primary relatives of Ego). E.g., father's father, mother's sister, wife's mother, brother's son, etc. GPM: 14 |
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Term
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Definition
| "In descent systems, defining descent categories with reference to more and more remote apical ancestors so that the descent categories form a tree-like structure (including successively wider ranges of descendants)." RK:151. |
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Term
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Definition
| The process whereby segments of a lineage split apart and become established as separate "sub-lineages." This is usually associated with political processes and/or demographic growth (RF-123); NG-200). |
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Term
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Definition
| where the marriages occur seriatum (NOTE: this is a misnomer, if the marriages are not simultaneous, they cannot be consider as polygamous) |
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Term
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Definition
| "Exchange of sisters in marriage by a pair of men." RK:151. |
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Term
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Definition
| where the plural wives are sisters (to one another) |
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Term
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Definition
| The marriage of a man to two or more sisters simultaneously. Distinguish between this and the sororate. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Rule whereby a man is entitled to marry the sister of his deceased wife. Also, Sororal Polygyny: simultaneous marriage to a man to two or more women who are sisters (to one another)." DT. "This perpetuates the marital contract between groups." RK:151. Contra. "Levirate". |
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Term
| Symmetrical Cross-Cousin Marriage |
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Definition
| Marriage with a MBD or a FZD. |
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Term
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Definition
| "A practice whereby a child does not take his name from its parents but rather parents derive a name from their child. For example, an adult is known as "the father of so-and-so." ES:79. |
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Term
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Definition
| The primary relatives of Ego's secondary relatives. E.g., father's sister's husband, wife's sister's daughter. GPM: 14. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Symbolic association between a social group (e.g., a lineage or clan) and a kind of (animal,) bird, plant, or natural phenomenon. In "classic" forms, a member of the social group has some special religious relationship (e.g., a food taboo) toward members of the natural species." RK:151. |
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Term
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Definition
| A inheritance rule which favors the youngest born child in a family. Contra. "primogeniture" |
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Term
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Definition
| The principle whereby descent is traced either through the male line ("patrilineal") or the female line ("matrilineal"), but not both |
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Term
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Definition
| Pertaining to the reckoning of relationship by female link(s) exclusively, regardless of sex of Ego and/or Alter. Contra. "agnate". |
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Term
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Definition
| "Ego's sister's son." ES:79. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Residence of a married couple with the wife's kin." RK:151. Same as "matrilocal residence" except that matrilineal descent groups are not present. |
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Term
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Definition
| "Residence of a married couple with the husband's kin. Residence rules can be further distinguished as "viri-patrilocal" (with the husband's father), "viri-avunculocal" (residence with husband's maternal uncle." RK:151. Same as patrilocal residence except that patrilineal descent groups are not present. |
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Term
| Warfare Theory of Matrilocality |
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Definition
| The Embers assert a relationship between warfare and residence patterns, as follows: "Patrilocal residence is favored by the presence of at least some internal warfare (that is, warfare within the society), whether or not such warfare interferes with a patridominant division of labor; and matrilocal residence is favored by purely external warfare if such warfare compels the division of labor to become matridomnant (Ember and Ember 1971: 593)" LM:109 See "Migration Theory of Matrilocality". |
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Term
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Definition
| The abduction of a woman who is taken as a wife. "Wife-capture is exceedingly rare as a normal mode of marriage, not appearing as such in any of the socieites of our sample, and elopments are usually later legitimzed by the performance of the customary ceremonies and property transactions." GPM:20. |
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