Niece and nephew

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In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle. The gender-neutral term nibling has been used in place of the common terms, especially in specialist literature. [1]

Contents

As aunt/uncle and niece/nephew are separated by one generation, they are an example of a second-degree relationship. Unless related by marriage, they are 25% or more related by blood if the aunt/uncle is a full sibling of one of the parents, or 12.5% if they are a half-sibling.

Lexicology

The word nephew is derived from the French word neveu which is derived from the Latin nepos. [2] The term nepotism , meaning familial loyalty, is derived from this Latin term. [3] Niece entered Middle English from the Old French word nece, which also derives from Latin nepotem. [4] The word nibling, derived from sibling, is a neologism suggested by Samuel Martin in 1951 as a cover term for "nephew or niece"; it is not common outside of specialist literature. [1] Sometimes in discussions involving analytic material or in abstract literature, terms such as male nibling and female nibling are preferred to describe nephews and nieces respectively. [5] Terms such as nibling are also sometimes viewed as a gender-neutral alternative to terms which may be viewed as perpetuating the overgenderization of the English language; [6] it can also be used likewise to refer to non-binary relatives. [7]

These French-derived terms displaced the Middle English nyfte, nift, nifte, from Old English nift, from Proto-Germanic *niftiz ('niece'); and the Middle English neve, neave, from Old English nefa, from Proto-Germanic *nefô ('nephew'). [8] [9] [10] [11]

Culture

Traditionally, a nephew was the logical recipient of his uncle's inheritance if the latter did not have a successor. A nephew might have more rights of inheritance than the uncle's daughter. [12] [13]

In social environments that lacked a stable home or environments such as refugee situations, uncles and fathers would equally be assigned responsibility for their sons and nephews. [14]

Among parents, some cultures have assigned equal status in their social status to daughters and nieces. This is, for instance, the case in Indian communities in Mauritius, [15] and the Thai Nakhon Phanom Province, where the transfer of cultural knowledge such as weaving was distributed equally among daughters, nieces and nieces-in-law by the Tai So community, [16] and some Garifuna people that would transmit languages to their nieces. [17] In some proselytizing communities the term niece was informally extended to include non-related younger female community members as a form of endearment. [18] Among some tribes in Manus Province of Papua New Guinea, women's roles as sisters, daughters and nieces may have taken precedence over their marital status in social importance. [19]

Additional terms

In some cultures and family traditions, it is common to refer to cousins with one or more removals to a newer generation using some form of the word niece or nephew. For more information see cousin.

Related Research Articles

Jargon or technical language is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The context is usually a particular occupation, but any ingroup can have jargon. The key characteristic that distinguishes jargon from the rest of a language is its specialized vocabulary, which includes terms and definitions of words that are unique to the context, and terms used in a narrower and more exact sense than when used in colloquial language. This can lead outgroups to misunderstand communication attempts. Jargon is sometimes understood as a form of technical slang and then distinguished from the official terminology used in a particular field of activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synonym</span> Words or phrases of the same meaning

A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words begin, start, commence, and initiate are all synonyms of one another: they are synonymous. The standard test for synonymy is substitution: one form can be replaced by another in a sentence without changing its meaning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel E. Martin</span> American linguist (1924–2009)

Samuel Elmo Martin was an American linguist known for seminal work on the languages of East Asia, a professor at Yale University, and the author of many works on the Korean and Japanese languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aunt</span> Female relative who is sibling of ones parent

An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refer to the cousins of their parents as aunt or uncle due to the age and generation gap. The word comes from Latin: amita via Old French ante and is a family relationship within an extended or immediate family.

The Serbo-Croatian standard languages have one of the more elaborate kinship (srodstvo) systems among European languages. Terminology may differ from place to place. Most words are common to other Slavic languages, though some derive from Turkish. The standardized languages may recognize slightly different pronunciations or dialectical forms; all terms are considered standard in all language standards, unless otherwise marked: [S] (Serbian), [C] (Croatian), [B] (Bosnian) and [M] (Montenegrin) below.

The coefficient of relationship is a measure of the degree of consanguinity between two individuals. The term coefficient of relationship was defined by Sewall Wright in 1922, and was derived from his definition of the coefficient of inbreeding of 1921. The measure is most commonly used in genetics and genealogy. A coefficient of inbreeding can be calculated for an individual, and is typically one-half the coefficient of relationship between the parents.

Sudanese kinship, also referred to as the descriptive system, is a kinship system used to define family. Identified by Lewis Henry Morgan in his 1871 work Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family, the Sudanese system is one of the six major kinship systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cousin</span> Descendant of an ancestors sibling

A cousin is a relative that is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin.

A bogle, boggle, or bogill is a Northumbrian, Cumbrian and Scots term for a ghost or folkloric being, used for a variety of related folkloric creatures including Shellycoats, Barghests, Brags, the Hedley Kow and even giants such as those associated with Cobb's Causeway. They are reputed to live for the simple purpose of perplexing mankind, rather than seriously harming or serving them.

In law and in cultural anthropology, affinity is the kinship relationship created or that exists between two people as a result of someone's marriage. It is the relationship each party in the marriage has to the family of the other party in the marriage. It does not cover the marital relationship itself. Laws, traditions and customs relating to affinity vary considerably, sometimes ceasing with the death of one of the marriage partners through whom affinity is traced, and sometimes with the divorce of the marriage partners. In addition to kinship by marriage, "affinity" can sometimes also include kinship by adoption or a step relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sister</span> Female sibling

A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familial relationships. A full sister is a first-degree relative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hello</span> Salutation or greeting

Hello is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826.

Kinship terminology is the system used in languages to refer to the persons to whom an individual is related through kinship. Different societies classify kinship relations differently and therefore use different systems of kinship terminology; for example, some languages distinguish between consanguine and affinal uncles, whereas others have only one word to refer to both a father and his brothers. Kinship terminologies include the terms of address used in different languages or communities for different relatives and the terms of reference used to identify the relationship of these relatives to ego or to each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family</span> Group of related people

Family is a group of people related either by consanguinity or affinity. It forms the basis for social order. The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as members mature and learn to participate in the community. Historically, most human societies use family as the primary purpose of attachment, nurturance, and socialization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witch (word)</span>

Witch, from the Old English wiċċe, is a term rooted in European folklore and superstition for a practitioner of witchcraft, magic or sorcery. Traditionally associated with malevolent magic, with those accused of witchcraft being the target of witch-hunts, in the modern era the term has taken on different meanings. In literature, a 'witch' can now simply refer to an alluring women capable of 'bewitching' others. In neopagan religions such as Wicca the term has meanwhile been adopted as the female term for an adherent.

Irish kinship is a system of kinship terminology which shows a bifurcate collateral pattern. This system is used by a minority of people living in the Gaeltacht regions of Ireland. Irish kinship terminology varies from English kinship as it focuses on gender and generation, with less emphasis on differentiating lineal vs. collateral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncle</span> Male relative who is sibling of ones parent

An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent, as well as the parent of the cousins. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an uncle is an aunt, and the reciprocal relationship is that of a nephew or niece. The word comes from Latin: avunculus, the diminutive of avus (grandfather), and is a family relationship within an extended or immediate family. The gender-neutral term pibling, a shortened form of parent's sibling, may refer to either an aunt or an uncle.

The Burmese kinship system is a fairly complex system used to define family in the Burmese language. In the Burmese kinship system:

References

  1. 1 2 Conklin, Harold C. (1964). "Ethnogenealogical method" . In Ward Hunt Goodenough (ed.). Explorations in Cultural Anthropology: Essays in Honor of George Peter Murdock. McGraw-Hill. p.  35.
  2. ↑ "nephew (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary . Douglas Harper. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Meakins, Felicity (2016). Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation. p. 91.
  4. ↑ "niece, n.". Oxford English Dictionary . Oxford University Press. June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  5. ↑ Keen, Ian (1985). "Definitions of kin". Journal of Anthropological Research . 41 (1): 62–90.
  6. ↑ Hill, Jane H.; Kenneth C. Hill (1997). "Culture Influencing Language: Plurals of Hopi Kin Terms in Comparative Uto‐Aztecan Perspective". Journal of Linguistic Anthropology . 7 (2): 166–180.}
  7. ↑ Aviles, Gwen (24 August 2020). "Jennifer Lopez shares video about transgender 'nibling,' Brendon". NBC News . Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  8. ↑ Buck, Carl Darling (3 July 2008). A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages. University of Chicago Press. ISBN   9780226228860 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Ringe, Donald (31 August 2006). From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic: A Linguistic History of English. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780191536335 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Jones, William Jervis (19 March 1990). German kinship terms, 750–1500: documentation and analysis. W. de Gruyter. ISBN   9780899255736 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (19 March 1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9781884964985 – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ Stahl, Anne (2007). Victims who Do Not Cooperate with Law Enforcement in Domestic Violence Incidents. p. 19.
  13. ↑ Chakraborty, Eshani. "Marginality, Modes of insecurity and Indigenous Women of Northern Bangladesh" (PDF). calternatives.org. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Atlani, Laàtitia; Rousseau, C…Cile (2000). "The Politics of Culture in Humanitarian Aid to Women Refugees Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence". Transcultural Psychiatry. 37 (3). McGill University: 435–449. doi:10.1177/136346150003700309. S2CID   146534532.
  15. ↑ Hazareesingh, K. (January 1966). "Comparative Studies in Society and History — The Religion and Culture of Indian Immigrants in Mauritius and the Effect of Social Change — Cambridge Journals Online". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 8 (2): 241–257. doi:10.1017/S0010417500004023. S2CID   144617688 . Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "Knowledge Management on Local Wisdom of Tai-so Community Weaving Culture in Phone Sawan District, Nakhon Phanom Province" (PDF). Npu.ac.th. Retrieved 11 April 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  17. ↑ "Language transmission in a Garifuna community: Challenging current notions about language death". Dialnet.unirioja.es. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  18. ↑ "Divine Domesticities : Christian Paradoxes in Asia and the Pacific". Oapen.org. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  19. ↑ Gustaffson, Berit (1999). Traditions and Modernities in Gender Roles: Transformations in Kinship and Marriage Among the M'Buke from Manus Province. p. 7.
  20. ↑ "Definition of Grandnephew by Merriam-Webster". merriam-webster.com. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  21. ↑ "Definition of Great-nephew by Merriam-Webster". merriam-webster.com. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  22. ↑ "Definition Of Half Niece by Merriam-Webster". merriam-webster.com. Merriam-webster. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  23. ↑ "Definition Of Half Nephew by Merriam-Webster". merriam-webster.com. Merriam-webster. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
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