FLASHCARD DATA FOR NATURE OF KINSHIP

Topic 1: Overview

1. The term for culturally defined relationships between individuals kinship

who are commonly thought of as having family ties.
2. The general term for socially recognized links between ancestors descent (or descent bond)
and descendants.
3. The kind of kinship bond that links husband or wife, mother-in-law, affinity (or marriage) bond
father-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law.
4. The formal kinship analysis term for people who are related by affines (or affinal relatives)
bonds of affinity.
5. The kind of kinship bond that links people through socially consanguinity
recognized biological ties, such as mother, father, grandparents,
children, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, and
cousins.
6. The formal kinship analysis term for people who are related by consanguines (or
bonds of consanguinity. consanguinal relatives)
7. The term for a socially recognized link between individuals, fictive kinship
created as an expedient for dealing with special circumstances,
such as the bond between a godmother and her godchild. These
bonds are based on friendship and other personal relationships
rather than marriage or descent.
8. The kind of kin term used when addressing someone directly in term of address
contrast to when they are referring to them in a conversation with
someone else.
9. The kind of kin term used when referring to someone in a term of reference
conversation with someone else.
10. The kind of kinship bond that links parents to their adopted fictive kinship
children.
11. A fictive kinship term used for godparents among Spanish comadre (co-mother) or
speakers in Latin America. compadre (co-father)

Topic 2: Descent Principles: Part I

1. The gender of a person who is represented by a male

triangle in kinship diagrams.
2. The gender of a person who is represented by a either male or female
square in kinship diagrams.
3. In kinship diagrams, the term that is used to label the ego
person to whom all kinship relationships are referred.
4. What an equals sign (=) represents in kinship marriage bond between a husband and
diagrams. his wife
5. What a vertical line represents in kinship diagrams. bond of descent (e.g., parent-child
bond)

6. The general descent principle in which kinship is unilineal descent

traced only through a single line of ancestors, male or
female. Both males and females are members of a
family, but descent links are only recognized through
relatives of one gender.
7. The descent principle in which kinship is traced only patrilineal descent
through the male line. With this pattern, people are
related if they can trace descent through males to the
same male ancestor. Both males and females inherit
family membership but only males can pass it on to
their descendants.

8. The descent principle in which kinship is traced only matrilineal descent

through the female line. With this pattern, people are
related if they can trace descent through females to
the same female ancestor. Both males and females
inherit family membership but only females can pass it
on to their descendants.

9. his mother’s brother (or maternal uncle)

In societies using matrilineal descent, the man who
most likely would have the formal kinship related
responsibilities for a boy that European cultures assign
to his father.

10. The family member from whom a woman will most her mother
likely inherit wealth, titles, or other status in a society
with matrilineal descent.
11. The family member from whom a man will most likely his father
inherit wealth, titles, or other status in a society with
patrilineal descent.
12. The male family member from whom a man will most his mother’s brother (or maternal uncle)
likely inherit wealth, titles, or other status in a society
with matrilineal descent.

13. The kinds of subsistence patterns of societies which materially rich foragers, small-scale
are most likely to use unilineal descent. (Hint: all are farmers, and nomadic pastoralists
societies with small populations that usually have
more than adequate food supplies.)
14. The general descent principle that about 60% of all unilineal descent
societies used to trace descent until the early 20 th
century. (Hint: most of these societies had small
numbers of people.)
15. The term for the variation of cognatic descent in which bilineal descent (or double descent)
both patrilineal and matrilineal descent lines are
recognized. In this rare system, there are two direct
ancestors in each generation—a male one and a
female one.)

16. The descent system which results in only one direct unilineal (patrilineal or matrilineal)
ancestors in each generation.
17. The term for the variation of cognatic descent in which parallel descent
men trace their ancestry through male lines and
women trace theirs through female lines. (Hint: unlike
bilineal descent, each individual is a member of only
one descent group.)
18. The term for the descent system in which individuals ambilineal descent
may select only one unilineal line to trace descent
(male or female). Since each generation can choose
which parent to trace descent through, a family line
may be patrilineal in one generation and matrilineal in
the next.

Topic 3: Descent Principles: Part II

1. The cognatic descent system that is commonly used in North America bilateral descent
and Europe today.
2. The descent system in which all male and female children are bilateral descent
members of both their father's and mother's families.

3. bilateral descent
The descent system that is used most commonly by large agricultural
and industrial nations as well as by hunters and gatherers in harsh,
relatively nonproductive environments such as deserts and arctic
wastelands.
4. The number of direct ancestors in each generation back through time two parents and double
that potentially exist with bilateral or cognatic descent. the number of ancestors
each generation back
(i.e., 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.)
5. The descent system in which there are the least possible number of unilineal (patrilineal or
ancestors per generation—i.e., there is only one ancestor per matrilineal) descent
generation.
6. The descent system in which there are the most possible number of bilateral descent
ancestors per generation.
7. The descent system that can result in the largest number of possible bilateral descent
descendants after 4 generations. Assume that in all descent systems
that you are thinking of that everyone has exactly 4 children and that
they all live to have 4 children. (Hint: there will be a total of 256
offspring with the descent system that has the most potential
descendants.)
Topic 4: Descent Groups

1. The term for a family consisting of a man, woman, and their nuclear family
children.
2. The term for the nuclear family into which one is born. family or orientation
3. The term for the nuclear family in which one is a parent. family of procreation
4. The term for a nuclear family in which there is no continuing adult matricentric (or
male functioning as a husband/father. In such families, the mother matrifocused)
raises her children more or less alone and subsequently has the
major role in their socialization.

5. The general term for a multi-generational group of relatives who are unilineage
related by unilineal descent. (Hint: the answer is not dependent on
whether the descent pattern is matrilineal or patrilineal.)
6. A multi-generational group of relatives who are related by patrilineal patrilineage
descent. This large family group usually consists of a number of
related nuclear families descended from the same man.
7. A multi-generational group of relatives who are related by matrilineal matrilineage
descent. This large family group usually consists of a number of
related nuclear families descended from the same woman.
8. A group of people who claim unilineal descent from the same clan
ancestor but who cannot specify all of the actual links. The ancestor
is genealogically so remote that he or she is often thought of as a
mythical being, animal, or plant. This type of large family group
usually consists of a number of related unilineages.
9. A unilineal descent group consisting of a number of related clans. phratry
This very large family group’s founding ancestor is so remote
genealogically that he or she is usually mythical.
10. One of two unilineal divisions of an entire society. These very large moiety
family groups have reciprocal privileges and obligations with each
other, such as providing marriage partners and assisting at
funerals. The founding ancestor of each of these groups is often so
genealogically remote that he or she is now mythical.
11. The term that anthropologists use for a fictional clan originator. totem (or totemic
(Hint: the term came from the huge poles carved by Indians on emblem)
Vancouver Island in Western Canada to represent their mythical
ancestors.)
12. The region of the world in which the Kariera four class system of Western Australia (among
patrilineal descent combined with moieties was traditionally used. the aborigines)
13. The term for a group of relatives who are linked together by a single kindred
individual who can trace descent and/or marriage relationships to
every other member of the family. (Hint: this is usually the largest
family group formed in societies using bilateral or cognatic descent.)
14. The thing that usually prevents North American kindreds from conflicting interests and
functioning as efficiently as unilineages in collective ownership and obligations of different
mutual aid. family members
(especially in-laws)
15. The only kind of bilateral, or cognatic, kindred that regularly a dead ancestor focused
continues to exist after the death of its founder. kindred

Topic 5: Kin Naming Systems: Part I

1. The name for the most common kin naming system in North America Eskimo
and Europe today.
2. The kin naming system in which cousins are lumped together and Eskimo
given the same kin name, while siblings are distinguished from
cousins and given gender specific kin names as illustrated below.

3. The descent pattern of most societies that use the Eskimo kin naming bilateral (or cognatic)
system. descent
4. The two kin naming systems in which both ego's mother's and father's Eskimo and Hawaiian
collateral relatives are considered equally important. That is to say,
no distinction is made between relatives on the mother's and father's
side of the family. This is reflected in the use of the same gender
specific kin names for them.
5. The number of different basic kin naming systems used around the six
world.
6. The kinds of societies that use the Eskimo kin naming system. (Hint: most technologically
the common denominator for these societies is an economy that complex societies and
forces the nuclear family to be mostly independent.) foragers living in harsh
environments
7. The least complex kin naming system. (Hint: this system uses only Hawaiian
four different kin terms of reference.)
8. The kin naming system in which relatives are distinguished only by Hawaiian
generation and gender (e.g., ego's father and all male relatives in his
generation have the same kin name, and ego's mother and all female
relatives in her generation are referred to by the same kin term as
illustrated below.)
9. The region of the world where the Hawaiian kin naming system is Polynesia (islands of the
most commonly used. South Central Pacific
Ocean)

10. The most complex kin naming system. (Hint: with this system, most Sudanese
kinsmen are not lumped together under the same terms of reference.
Each category of relative is given a distinct term based on
genealogical distance from ego and on the side of the family. There
can be eight different cousin terms, all of whom are distinguished from
ego's brother and sister as illustrated below.)

11. The kin naming system that has been traditionally used most Sudanese
commonly in Sudan and Turkey. (Hint: these are societies with
patrilineal descent and considerable complexity in terms of social
class and political power.)
12. The general term for a culturally defined set of rules for terms of kin naming system (or
address and reference to be used for specific categories of relatives. kin terminological
(Hint: there are 6 types of these systems used around the world.) system)

Topic 6: Kin Naming Systems: Part II

1. The three kin naming systems named after North American Indian Omaha, Crow, and
cultures. Iroquois
2. The general kinship term for a cousin who is ego's father's brother's parallel cousin
children or mother's sister's children. (Hint: the gender of the cousin is
not relevant in making this distinction.)
3. The general kinship term for a cousin who is ego's father's sister's cross cousin
children or mother's brother's children. (Hint: the gender of the cousin
is not relevant in making this distinction.)
4. The cousins who would be considered relatives in a society with parallel cousins
unilineal descent. (Hint: think in terms of cross and parallel cousins.
The answer will be the same for patrilineal and matrilineal descent.)
5. The descent pattern of societies that use the Omaha kin naming patrilineal descent
system. (Hint: think in terms of patrilineal, matrilineal, bilateral, etc.)
6. The descent pattern of societies that use the Crow kin naming system. matrilineal descent
(Hint: think in terms of patrilineal, matrilineal, bilateral, etc.)
7. The kin naming system that is almost a mirror of the Omaha system. Crow
(Hint: in both systems, siblings and parallel cousins of the same
gender are given the same term of reference, and other relatives not in
ego's unilineage are lumped across generations in regards to kin
terms.)
8. The kin naming system in which the same term of reference is used for Iroquois
father and father's brother as well as mother and mother's sister. (Hint:
this merging is related to shared membership in unilineages, as it is in
the Omaha and Crow systems. However, this system may be either
patrilineal or matrilineal and is usually not as strongly one or the other.)

9. The kin naming system in which siblings and parallel cousins from both Iroquois
sides of the family are distinguished only by gender in terms of
reference. Cross cousins are also lumped together and distinguished
by gender.

Copyright © 2007 by Dennis O'Neil. All rights reserved.