Kinship Terms

I married into a Xhosa clan. One of the things that struck me early on was that they do not use the familiar English kinship terms. In the more traditional scheme of things, there seem to be no uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces. Brothers and sisters are not always what we call them in English. It seems to me that the more traditional kinship terms are these:

• mothers and fathers (the older generation)
• sons and daughters (the younger generation)
• brothers and sisters (the same generation), and
• brothers- and sisters-in-law

Brothers and sisters include those of the same household. Uncles and aunts may sometimes be distinguished by calling them "little" mothers and "little" fathers. I am not sure whether there is such a thing as "cousins". The photo shows (in English terms) a niece and a cousin of my wife's. In Xhosa kinship terms, a daughter and a sister. OBSERVATION: It is interesting that family members actually treat each other as they call each other.

POSTSCRIPT: I received the comment that similar kinship terms were in use in the Pacific, until Generation Y marked a shift to more English kinship terms.