Chapter VI · —Nomenclature of Kinship.
Reading edition
Specific kinships are such as “paternal uncle” or “maternal uncle,” as distinguished from the general term “uncle.” The phrase “first cousin” covers no less than eight specific kinships (four male and four female), not taking the issue of mixed marriages into account. Specific kinships are briefly expressed by a nomenclature in which fa, me, bro, si, son, da, Hu, Wi, stand respectively for father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, Husband, Wife. Each of these syllables is supposed to have the possessive 's added to it whenever it is followed by another syllable of the set, or by the word is when it is not. Example: Let the person from whom the kinships are reckoned be called P, and let Q and R be two of P's kinsfolk, described respectively as fa bro and me si son. That means that P's father's brother is Q, and that P's mother's sister's son is R. It is a simple and easily intelligible nomenclature, and replaces intolerable verbiage in the description of distant kinships. My correspondents used it freely, and none of them spoke of any difficulty in understanding it. Its somewhat babyish sound is soon disregarded.
Table IV.—Abbreviations.
Males. Females.
Grandfather, paternal fa fa Grandmother, paternal fa me
" maternal me fa " maternal me me
Father fa Mother me
Uncle, paternal fa bro Aunt, paternal fa si
" maternal me bro " maternal me si
Brother bro Sister si
Son son Daughter da
Nephew, brother's son bro son Niece, brother's daughter bro da
Nephew, sister's son si son Niece, sister's daughter si da
Male first cousins: Female first cousins:
1. Son of paternal uncle fa bro son 1. Dau. of paternal uncle fa bro da
2. Son of maternal uncle me bro son 2. Dau. of maternal uncle me bro da
3. Son of paternal aunt fa si son 3. Dau. of paternal aunt fa si da
4. Son of maternal aunt me si son 4. Dau. of maternal aunt me si da
Those relationships that are expressed by different combinations of these letters differ specifically; therefore, in saying, in the next chapter, that each person has “roughly, on the average, one fertile relative in each and every form of specific kinship,” it means in each and every combination of the above syllables that is practically possible.
Relationship may also be expressed conveniently for some purposes in Degrees of remoteness, the number of the Degree being that of the number of syllables used to express the specific kinship.