Re: Way off list for wordsmiths

["David B. Kronenfeld" kfeld@xxxxxxxx]

Friend,


        English is
a funny language.  We have maybe 3 (maybe more, depending on how you
count) alternative "correct" cousin terminologies.  I

        In one
system, the children of two first cousins are second cousins to each
other.  The child of my first cousin is my first cousin once
removed.  That is cousins with zero removal are in the same
generation as each other.  The number of generations down they are
from the apical sibling pair is the degree of cousin-ship.  The
number of generations they are apart is the degree of removal.

        In another
system, the child of my first cousin is my second cousin, and the child
of my second cousin is my third cousin.  But also the children of a
pair of first cousins are third cousins to each other.

        In another
system, we just give up counting.  Informally, when we get far
enough out for ...., we speak of "kissing cousins".

        

        An
"incorrect" system, but one that has shown up in ca. 14 % of
classes in which I have probed this is one in which cousins who are one's
parents' age, and with whom one interacts, are sometimes referred to as
"uncle" or "aunt".  "Incorrect" here
means that they themselves will say, when asked, that the usage is not
technically correct.


        In English
your wife's brother's wife is your sister-in-law.  I've never heard
of anything else.


        And
English is certainly deficient in having no term for me to use to label
my relationship to my child's spouse's parents !  Lots of other
European languages do have such a term (I think).

        
        
        
        Cheers,

        
        
        
        
        David


At 09:39 AM 6/30/2008, you wrote:

Friends

 

I just had a discussion with the person (Stephen) who I believe is
my  second cousin.  Stephen's Grandmother was my Grandmother's
sister.  Stephen's mother and my mother were first
cousins.   Am I right that Stephen is my second cousin. 
Are my children Stephen's second cousins once removed.  Is my
granddaugher Stephen's cousin twice removed or what.

 

On a similar topic.  Is my wife's brother's wife my sister in law or
is there another classification for that relationship.

 

In Yiddish there are very good words to describe my relationship to my
daughter's in laws.  Her father in law is my M'chutan, her mother in
law is my M'chatenestah, and my daughter's in laws are collectively my
M'chutanim  (I have tried to spell these words phonetically. I hope
I am right) Are there any equivalent English words.

 

I look forward to your erudite answers.

 

mailto:avromf@xxxxxxxx or
mailto:af413@xxxxxxxx

David B.
Kronenfeld     
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Department of
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Home pages:       Department:
http://www.anthropology.ucr.edu/people/kronenfeld/index.html; eudora="autourl">
http://www.anthropology.ucr.edu/people/kronenfeld/index.html

        
        Personal:
       
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/david-judy/david.html; eudora="autourl">
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/david-judy/david.htmlSociety for Anthropological
Sciences:   
http://anthrosciences.org/index; eudora="autourl">
http://anthrosciences.org/indexe-copy of kinterm typology
article:     
http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/1150; eudora="autourl">
http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/1150

e-copy of recent paper on cultural models:
     
http://repositories.cdlib.org/hcs/WorkingPapers/DBK2005; eudora="autourl">
http://repositories.cdlib.org/hcs/WorkingPapers/DBK2005e-copy of article on formal rules and cognition:
       
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2005.06.001; eudora="autourl">
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2005.06.001

        
        
        
        or as typescript
http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/1721; eudora="autourl">
http://repositories.cdlib.org/postprints/1721