The Kinship Terminology of the Dimasa: Alternate Generation Equivalence in the Tibeto-Burman Area

Abstract

Abstract:Most languages of the Bodo-Garo cluster of the Tibeto-Burman family exhibit kinship terminologies that are built upon the principle of seniority and incorporate terminological equivalences between agnatic kin of alternate generations. Interestingly, the latter feature does not appear to be shared by any other language of the Sino-Tibetan family. To find a similar intricate pattern of self-reciprocity between consanguineal relatives of different generations, one has to turn to the Munda systems of Central India (whose languages belong to the Austroasiatic family); this raises several problems of interpretation. Dimasa is chosen here as a model, as it most clearly exhibits the general principles underlying kin classification in Bodo-Garo languages.