Language, kinship, family

Is there “kinship” and “family”in other animal species?

Mother-child bonds in higher primates

Evolutionary origins and biological basis

Conditions of life in the trees

Fewer offspring per birth.

Greater care of each offspring

Weak or absent bondsbeyond the mother-child bond

“Fathers” are marginal. provide no special are not recognized.

Siblings, grandparents, aunts, cousins? not recognized. Not given special treatment

Conclusion: other animal species have: biological relationships but no “kinship system” cultural sense.

Human kinship systems are based on language

A general term to distinguish a sub-group of humans “family”, “kin”, “relatives”

Special terms for different types of relatives. “Kinship terminologies”

Rules for behavior toward different subgroups of kin

Children are taught the terminology for different groups of kin the rules of behavior toward each group

Conclusion: The cultural system “kinship” requires language.

Objective categories of kin

Consanguineal vs. affinal “blood relatives” vs. “in-laws” by marriage

Lineal vs. collateral

Ego’s generation vs. ascending / descending gen.

These are universal categories used by anthropologists. Similar to the phonological grid of linguists

Different cultures use their own terms

Chinese vs. English kinship terminology

Patrilateral kin vs. Matrilateral kin Chinese distinguishes.

More distinctions on father’s side. Mother’s kin often called “outsider”

English merges. No diff. between father’s and mother’s kin

Birth order and seniority Chinese distinguishes English merges

Family names: both are patronymic

Why have different terminologies emerged?

Not simply linguistic differences.

Theory: terminologies reflect social organization

The “patrilineal clan” served three functions Landholding group Military group Exogamous marital group

Terminological “lag”

Social conditions may change, but old terms persist.

A terminology may reflect past social organization.

Evolution of terminologies

Impact of French on English collateral terms

Hypothetical terminological impact of the one-child family system.

Summary of major conclusions

All animals have “biological relations”.Only human language permits “kinship”.Kinship is a cultural system with two

elements: Kinship labels and terminologies Rules of behavior

Kinship terminologies differ among cultures.Kinship terminologies evolve.But they evolve more slowly than behavior.They may reflect the past.

Diversity of kinship terminologies