Brothers-in-law
| From: | Yahya Abdal-Aziz <yahya@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, May 4, 2006, 4:14 |
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Brothers-in-law
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Here's something to ponder when you're next constructing a society, and a language to
suit its needs.
In English the term "brother-in-law" means two different relations:
* my brother-by-my-marriage = the man whose sister I married (my wife's brother)
* my brother-by-his-marriage = the man who married my sister (my sister's husband)
Some people say that it includes this relation:
* my brother-by-our-marriages = the man that my wife's sister married (my sister-in-law's husband)
To me, the term "-in-law" poses the question: "Under what law?"
What if ...?
... you visited a society where the following four were all different -
* my brother-by-my-marriage = the man whose sister I married
* my brother-by-his-marriage = the man who married my sister
* my brother-by-our-marriages = the man that my wife's sister married
* my brother-by-her-marriage = the man (not me) that my wife married --- a co-husband!
What would surprise you?
How could such a difference in status arise?
How would it alter the distribution of wealth by age and sex?
Would age be important? If so, why?
Would my brother-by-his-marriage (= the man who married my sister) be a different
relation to a man than to a woman? (Eg, IIRC, & CMIIW, under ancient Judaic law
and custom, a man was obligated to marry his brother's widow; this may have
been partly for her economic protection, and partly to give her sons on behalf
of his dead brother, so that "his line" might not die out.)
Regards,
Yahya
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