Crow-Omaha: New Light on a Classic Problem of Kinship Analysis

Glossary

Glossary affines: kin by marriage, in-laws. agnates: relatives linked via a line of males only (see also patrilineal descent). alliance/marriage alliance: institutional ties between groups linked by marriage(s); see also asymmetric-prescriptive system, elementary , complex, and semi-complex structures. asymmetrical cross-cousin marriage: pattern stemming from a rule prescribing marriage with either father’s sister’s child (FZCh) or mother’s brother’s child (MBCh), but not both. asymmetric-prescriptive system: system requiring opposite-sex siblings to marry into different groups, preventing direct exchange of marriage partners of the same sex. For example, Group A gives its women to Group B, and Group B gives its men to Group A, but the sexes cannot be reversed. Three groups are thus minimally required (A → B → C → A). Also known as a system with indirect or generalized exchange. bifurcate-merging: type of kin terminology in which F and FB are “merged”—called by the same term—and both are distinguished from MB, who is called by a different term (reflecting “bifurcation” between “parallel” and “cross”-kin); M and MZ are similarly merged, and distinguished from FZ. Primarily used for Iroquois and Dravidian systems, secondarily for Crow and Omaha. bilateral kindred: group based on ties through both F and M, and lacking a rule of unilineal descent. bridewealth: prescribed marriage payment from the groom’s kin to the bride’s. Cheyenne: type of kinship terminology in which crossness is recognized in above and below generations but not in one’s own. classificatory systems: kinship terminologies merging lineal kin (e.g., F, M) with collateral kin (e.g., FB, MZ). cognatic kin: relatives on one’s mother’s and father’s sides with no distinction made between male or female links. 304Glossary collateral kin: kin linked to ego outside a direct line of descent (e.g., FB, FMB, MMZ, BD, ZS). complex structure: a system of kinship whose only rules for marriage are negative, that is, proscribing marriage within a narrow circle of consanguines. consanguines: kin by “blood,” that is, descendants of a common ancestor. cross-cousins: MBCh, FZCh. cross-kin: kin to ego via an opposite-sex link to a collateral relative (e.g., FZCh, MBCh, FFZS, MMBD). crossness: differentiation of all relatives as either cross or parallel (via bifurcate-merging terminology). The two basic types of crossness are Dravidian (Type A) and Iroquois (Type B). cross-parallel neutralization: a rule or practice eliminating terminological differentiation of cross- and parallel kin, typically in one generation, for example, in ego’s generation in a Cheyenne system . Crow: a terminological type characterized by “lineal equations” that skew identifications of kin through generations down a matrilineal descent line (e.g., FZ = FM = FZD = FZDD, F = FMB = FZS = FZSS). descent groups: social action groups comprised by a common principle of descent, typically unilineal, that is, patrilineal or matrilineal. descriptive systems: kinship terminologies that distinguish lineal kin (e.g., F, M) from collateral kin (e.g., FB, MZ). Morgan’s category “descriptive”—as opposed to classificatory—is principally applied to Eskimo and Sudanese terminologies. dispersed affinal alliance: type of marriage alliance associated with semi-complex systems, that disperses marriages among kin groups in a changing, generally nonpredictable pattern from one generation to the next. double descent: system in which kin relationships through both a matriline and a patriline are emphasized for different purposes. Dravidian: a terminological type characterized by crossness that equates cross-kin with affines (MB = FZH, ♂MBD = ♂FZD = ♂W, etc.) typically associated with a rule of prescriptive cross-cousin marriage. Glossary305 Dravidianate: underlying system of Dravidian pattern. egocentric: specification of kinship relationships relative to a particular person, an “ego”; regarding kinship systems, typically associated with cognatic groups, and contrasted with sociocentric. elementary structure: a system of kinship with rules that prescribe marriage with a specific category of relative, for example, typically, a cross-cousin. Eskimo: a terminological type characterized by distinctions of lineal kin (e.g., F, M) from collateral kin (e.g., FB, MZ) that lacks crossness . Globally a widespread type, typical of contemporary North American and European societies. generational moieties: groupings that link all relatives of alternate generations for certain purposes, distinguishing them from those of intermediate generations. Thus one’s parents’ generation belongs to the same moiety as one’s children’s, and one’s own generation is in the same moiety as one’s grandparents and grandchildren. Hawaiian (generational): a terminological type characterized by distinctions...