Re: Kinship terminology

>Tom Wier wrote:
> I've been thinking about what Phaleran's kinship terminology should
> be like, and I've kinda been wondering how y'all's languages handle
> this --  any ideas? Is there any particular system to outline how the
> kinship terminology is made up?
>
The Skerre use what anthropologists call the Hawaiian system.  All the ego's
cousins are brothers and sisters and all aunts and uncles are fathers and
mothers.  To differentiate, older cousins, aunts, and uncles (older than the
ego or his respective parent)  can (but don't have to) add the augmentative
suffix -ot.  For younger cousins, aunts, and uncles (younger than the ego or
his respective parent) can (but again don't have to) add the diminutive
suffix -tor.  The Skerre traditional have lived in family groups called
kaskalla (sg. skalla).  Members of the skalla can have the clitic -ce (/Te/)
attached to their name.  This is not permanent, as skalla membership is not
permanent (if you get pissed off with one set of relatives, you can move to
live with another set).
I don't know how realistic this is (but I'm hoping to meet with an anthro
professor some time this semester to find out).  I got my information on the
Hawaiian system from William H DeHaviland's Cultural Anthropology, 8th
edition.  In this book, he also outlines the Eskimo system (like the
Anglo-American system), Iroquois system, Crow System, the Omaha system, and
the descriptive system--all of which seem to be closely related to the type
of descent patterns of the kinship groups.
Hope this is helpful,
Doug