Any system of organizing
people who are relatives into different kinds of groups, be they
descent-based
or ego-oriented, is bound to have an important effect upon the ways in
which relatives are labeled in any given society. Kinship terminology
is affected by, and adjusts to, the kinds of kinship groups which exist
in a society. There are, also other factors at work as well in each
system
of kinship terminology that help differentiate one kin from another.
These factors may be sex, generational differences, or genealogical
differences.
Two important tasks are
fulfilled
by kinship terminology. Ther first is they classify particular kinds of
persons into single specific categories and secondly, they separate
different
kinds of persons into distinct categories.
Six different
systems of
kinship terminology result from the application of the above
principles:
Eskimo, Hawaiian, Iroquois, Omaha, Crow, and Descriptive systems. They
are identified according to the way cousins are classified.
ESKIMO
HAWAIIAN
IROQUOIS
OMAHA
CROW
DESCRIPTIVE
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