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Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2017/Paper I/Kinship
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper I 2017 15 Marks Model Answer Available

Determinants of Kinship Terminology — 2017 Paper I

Question · 2017 · Paper I · 15 Marks

Elucidate the determinants of Kinship terminology.

Model Answer

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Approach

  • Demand of Question:Explain the social and classificatory principles that determine how relatives are grouped and named in kinship terminologies.
  • Structuring the Response:Start with the idea of terminology as social classification; present Kroeber's criteria; then relate terminology to descent, marriage, residence and social organisation with comparative examples.
  • Key Dimensions to Cover:Morgan; Kroeber's eight criteria; generation, sex, affinity, collaterality, bifurcation, relative age, sex of speaker, linking relative; descent and marriage patterns; Iroquois, Omaha, Crow, Eskimo.

Model Answer

Introduction Kinship terminology is a culturally specific system used to classify and name relatives. L.H. Morgan (Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family, 1871) first demonstrated that kinship terms are not random labels but systematic reflections of underlying social organization, descent, and marriage rules.

Body

  1. Linguistic & Classificatory Determinants (Kroeber’s Principles)A.L. Kroeber(1909) identified eight fundamental principles that societies selectively use to build their kinship terminologies:
  1. Generation: Distinguishing father from grandfather.
  2. Relative Age: Distinguishing older brother (Bhaiya) from younger brother (Chhotu).
  3. Lineality vs. Collaterality: Distinguishing direct ancestors/descendants (Father) from collateral kin (Uncle).
  4. Sex of Relative: Distinguishing brother from sister.
  5. Sex of Speaker: E.g., a man and a woman might use different terms for their sister.
  6. Sex of the Linking Relative: Distinguishing cross-cousins (linked via different-sex siblings, e.g., Father’s Sister’s child) from parallel cousins (linked via same-sex siblings).
  7. Bifurcation: Distinguishing the maternal side from the paternal side.
  8. Affinity vs. Consanguinity: Distinguishing relatives by marriage (in-laws) from relatives by blood.
  1. Sociological DeterminantsWhile Kroeber focused on linguistics, W.H.R. Rivers and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown proved that social institutions directly determine terminology:
  • Descent Principles: Terminology often mirrors descent systems.
    • Omaha System: Found in patrilineal societies. It lumps the mother’s patrilineage across generations, as they are politically less important to Ego.
    • Crow System: The matrilineal mirror of Omaha, skewing generations on the father's side.
  • Marriage and Alliance:
    • Iroquois System: Merges Father with Father’s Brother (parallelkin), but isolates cross-kin. This is common where cross-cousin marriage is a preferred rule, turning cross-cousins into potential spouses (Claude Lévi-Strauss’s Alliance Theory).
  • Residence Patterns:
    • Eskimo System: Associated with neolocal residence (like modern industrial societies). It emphasizes the nuclear family (unique terms for Mother/Father/Brother/Sister) while lumping all extended kin as "cousins" or "uncles/aunts."
  • Status, Roles, and Behavior: Two genealogically identical kin might be named differently due to behavioral expectations (e.g., Avoidance vs. Joking relationships). A mother's brother (Maternal Uncle) might have a unique term if he plays a special ritual role in the society (Avunculocal societies).

Conclusion Kinship terminology is not merely a linguistic artifact but a social map. It is determined by a complex interplay of Kroeber’s cognitive categories and the practical sociological realities of descent, marital alliances, and household residence.

 

2026 Discuss 'incest taboo' as the basis of development of kinship systems in human societies. 2025 Theoretical significance of Purum kinship-system. 2024 Critical perspective on avoidance and joking relationship 2023 Critically discuss A.L. Kroeber's contribution to kinship studies.

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