Kinship

ambilineal descent

a form of descent that affiliates a person to a kin group through either the male or the female line

cognatic descent

a form of descent traced through both females and males

matrilineal descent

a form of descent wherby people trace their primary kin connections through their mothers

patrilineal descent

a form of descent wherby people trace their primary kin relationships through their fathers

Omaha system

a kinship system that emphasizes patrilineal descent. in this system the mother's patrilineal descent is distinct only by sex and not by one's generation

Crow system

a kinship system, associated with matrilineal descent, in which similar terms are used for one's father and father's brothers, one's mother and mother's sister, and one's siblings and parrallel cousins

Iroquois system

a system associated with unilineal descent in which the father and father's brother are called by the same term, as are the mother and mother's sister

double descent

a system of descent in which individuals receive some rights and obligations from the father's side of the family and others from the mother's side

bilateral descent

a type of kinship system whereby individuals emphasize both their mother's kin and their father's kin relatively equally

kindred

all of the relatives a person recognizes in a bilateral kinship system

Sudanese system

an extremely particularistic and descriptive kinship system found in North Africa that is associated with patrilineal descent

Hawaiian system

associated with ambilineal descent, this kinship system uses a single term for all relatives of the same sex and generation

moieties

complementary descent groups that result from the division of a society into two halves

lineality

kin related in a single line such as son, father, and grandfather

collaterality

kin relationship traced through a linking relative

affinal relatives

kinship ties formed through marriage (that is, in-laws)

consanguineal relatives

one's biological or blood relatives

reproductive technologies

recent developments, such as in vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, and sperm banks, which are making the reckoning of kinship relationships more complex

fictive kinship

relationships among individuals who recognize kinship obligations although the relationships are not based on either consanguineal or affinal ties

Eskimo system

the kinship system most commonly found in the United states; it is associated with bilateral descent. usually, a mother, father, and their children live together

EGO

the person in kinship diagrams from whose point of view we trace the relationship

segmentation

the process that takes place within a lineage wherby small subdivisions of a lineage will oppose one another in some social situations but will coalesce and become allies in other social situations

matriarchy

the rule of domination of women over men

vertical function of kinship

the way in which all kinship systems tend to provide social continuity by binding together different generations

horizontal function of kinship

the ways in which all kinship systems, by requiring people to marry outside their own small kinship group, function to integrate the total society through marriage bonds between otherwise unrelated kin groups

kinship system

those relationships found in all societies that are based on blood or marriage

unilineal descent

tracing descent through a single line (such as matrilineal or patrilineal) as compared to both sides (bilateral descent)

descent

tracing one's kinship connections back through a number of generations

lineage

unilineal descent group whose members can trace their line of descent to a common ancestor

phratries

unilineal descent groups composed of a number of related clans

clans

unilineal descent groups, usually comprising more than 10 generation, consisting of members who claim a common ancestry even though they cannot trace step-by-step their exact connection to a common ancestor