Discussion - Kinship Studies | Anthropology | UPSC

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Kinship terminology:-
It is a linguistic guide in a human society that serves to define how far and what ways the biological network of the individuals extends in both ways - ideally and in practice is called kinship terminology.
Classification of terminology
1. L.H. Morgan - 1877
2. A.L. Kroeber - 1909
3. R.H. Lowie - 1946
4. G.P. Murdock - 1949
Morgan’s classification
In Anthropological parlance, Lewis Henry Morgan took up the initial studies on Kinship. Morgan’s idea of kinship was reflected in his two major works “Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family” (1870) and “Ancient Society” (1877) which consisted of ethnographic data collected from the Iroquois, an American tribe. Morgan coined and described the terms Classificatory and Descriptive systems of kinship relationships.
The classification system uses kinship terms that merge or equate relatives who could be genealogically distinct from one another. It uses common terminologies for differently situated people. For example, the term cousin can be said to be classificatory in nature.
MURDOCK suggested the following criteria:-
- Generation
- Sex
- Affinity
- Collateral
- Bifurcation
- Polarity - when 2 people are employed in a social relationship polarity is employed - the English system ignores it rather than uses cousin for them.
- Age
- Speaker’s sex
- Death - generally used where leveret marriages are used.
Kinship system
According to Lowie Murdock
Generational type Hawaiian
Lineal type Eskimo
Bifurcate merging type Iroquois Red Indians
Crow red Indians
Omaha red Indians
Fully bifurcated Sudanese type
1. The Inuit system (Eskimo)
2. The Omaha System
3. The Crow system
4. The Iroquois system
5. The Sudanese system
6. The Hawaiian system
The Hawaiian system of kinship terminology is the least complex in that it uses the smallest number of terms.
In this system, all relatives of the same sex in the same generation are referred to by the same term.
Thus, all-female cousins are referred to by the same term as one’s sister; all-male cousins are referred to by the same term as one’s brother.
Everyone known to be related in ego’s parents’ generation is referred to by one common term distinguished by sex. All female and male members in one’s parent’s generation are referred to by the same terms as used for one’s mother and one’s father respectively.
The societies with Hawaiian kin terminology tend not to have unilineal descent groups helps explain why kinship terms are the same on both sides of the family.
The reason behind the usage of terms for a nuclear family for other relatives could be that societies with Hawaiian terminology are likely to have large extended families to which every type of relative may belong because of alternative (bilocal) residence patterns.
Thus all kin is important, a fact that seems to be reflected in the practice of referring to other relatives with the same terms that are used for nuclear family members.

[@rajeshahire6743]

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[@sagarupsc2860]

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[@noiith99]

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[@akashdeep212]

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