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affinal tie
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a contractual relationship by marriage or mutual agreement that is depicted as a double line on the kinship chart.
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ambilineal descent
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tracing an individual’s kinship through a single gendered line, with each family choosing either the mother’s or father’s descent line.
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ambilocal residence
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a postmarital residence pattern in which the couple chooses one lineage for their offspring, either the mother’s or the father’s; associated with ambilineal descent.
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avunculocal residence
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a postmarital residence pattern where a newly married couple resides with the groom’s mother’s brother; associated with patrilineal descent.
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bifurcate merging kinship
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a broader chart of EGO family relation that connects kinships by merging EGO’s parents’ same-sex siblings and their offspring into the immediate family (creating parallel cousins) and bifurcating, or cutting off, EGO’s parents’ opposite-sex siblings and their offspring (creating cross cousins); also called
Iroquois kinship
.
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bilateral descent
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tracing an individual’s kinship through both the mother’s and father’s lines.
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blended families
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a family in which there is more than one origin family for the members.
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bride service
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a transfer of wealth from the groom’s to the bride’s family through labor, usually the contracted labor of the groom, either before or after the marriage.
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bride wealth
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the transfer of material and symbolic value from the groom’s to the bride’s family in order to legitimize the marriage contract.
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clans
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a tribal social division in which a group of lineages have a presumed and symbolic kinship.
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cognatic descent
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a kinship structure that follows descent through both men and women, although it may vary by family.
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collateral kin
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EGO’s siblings and their offspring.
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compadrazgo
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a form of godparent relationship introduced originally as a social institution within the Catholic Church and later adapted as popular Catholicism in Latin America in which godparents are named for a Catholic child or young person during rituals such as baptism, confirmation, and marriage.
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consanguineal tie
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a biological (bloodline) connection between individuals that is indicated by a single line on a kinship chart; it is considered to be a permanent tie that cannot be broken.
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cross cousin
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EGO’s cousins through their parents’ opposite-sex siblings.
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descent
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individuals who are believed to be connected by blood or who have an enduring kindship bond across generations.
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dowry
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material value carried by the bride into her own marriage to provide her with symbolic leverage within her husband’s lineage.
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EGO
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the starting point for the kinship chart; used to read relationships as alignments between EGO and other individuals.
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extended family
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two or more family units functioning as a single integrated family; may involve two or more generations.
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family
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two or more people in an adaptable social and economic alliance that involves kinship, whether perceived through blood, marriage, or other permanent or semipermanent arrangement.
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family of orientation
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the family unit in which EGO was raised and nurtured as a child and adolescent.
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family of procreation
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the family that EGO produces, usually as a result of marriage.
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fictive kin
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a kinship tie that is socially interpreted to be by blood or marriage and that is based on intentional relationships, such as adoption, godparenthood, or intimate personal ties.
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fraternal polyandry
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a form of marriage in which biological brothers marry a single wife.
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generational kinship
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a kinship system in which the terms of reference are for gender and generation only, creating large units of immediate family; also called
Hawaiian kinship
.
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ghost marriage
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a marriage between one or two deceased individuals in order to create an alliance between lineages.
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household
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a group of individuals who live within the same residence and share socioeconomic needs associated with production and consumption.
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incest taboo
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a prohibition against sexual relations that is universal between parents and their offspring and sometimes extends to other relations considered too close for sexual relationships.
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kindred
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the sum of kinship relationships that is defined through EGO.
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kinship
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a web of relationships in which people consider themselves related to each other in a social and biological way.
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levirate
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a remarriage obligation in which the surviving widow (wife) must marry her deceased husband’s brother; the levirate occurred within polygynous societies.
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lineage
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a continuous line of descent from an original ancestor.
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lineal kinship
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a form of kinship reckoning that highlights the creation of a nuclear family; also called
Eskimo kinship
.
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marriage
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the formation of a new, socially sanctioned family as it is defined across cultures and societies.
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marriage compensation
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the transfer of some form of wealth from one family to another to legitimize the marriage as a creation of a new social and economic household.
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matrilineal (uterine) descent
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the descent of both males and females traced solely through the female ancestors.
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matrilocal residence
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a postmarital residence pattern in which the newly married couple establishes their new household with or near the bride’s mother or the bride’s mother’s relatives; also called
uxorilocal residence
.
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moieties
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the social division of a tribe into two halves.
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monogamy
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the formally sanctioned union of two adults.
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neolocal residence
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a postmarital residence pattern in which the newly married couple establishes an independent household not connected to either spouse’s family.
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nuclear family
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a family composed of two parents and their immediate offspring.
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parallel cousin
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EGO’s brothers and sisters through their parents’ same-sex siblings.
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patrilineal (agnatic) descent
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the descent of both males and females traced solely through male ancestors.
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patrilocal residence
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a postmarital residence pattern in which a newly married couple establishes their new household with or near the groom’s father or the groom’s father’s relatives; also called
virilocal residence
.
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polyandry
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is the marriage of one wife and more than one husband.
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polygamy
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the formally sanctioned union of more than two adults at the same time.
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polygyny
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the marriage of one man to more than one woman.
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postmarital residence rules
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the social rules that determine where a newly married couple will reside following marriage.
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remarriage obligations
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responsibilities to replace a deceased spouse with a new spouse from the same lineage in order to maintain the stability of the family unit.
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serial monogamy
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a form of monogamy in which two adults have a series of marriages over a lifetime.
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sociocultural construction
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a concept that is defined according to social criteria (not biological) and varies across cultures.
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sororate
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a remarriage obligation in which the surviving widower (husband) must marry his deceased wife’s sister or another female relative from her family.
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terms of address
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the terms (words) we use to speak directly to our kin.
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terms of reference
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the terms (words) that are used to refer to our kin.
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unilineal descent
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tracing an individual’s kinship through a single gendered line, either male or female, as a collective social rule for all families within a society.