Note 5 — LAWS AND CUSTOMS

Note.—For the sake of clearness only one word for mother (oyo) has been given in the above list. But in speaking of women born in certain clans the terms opfu, opfuramo, and opfununghowo are invariably used instead of oyo, oyoramo, and oyonunghowo, irrespective of what clan their husbands may belong to. These clans are all the clans of the Tompyaktserre phratry, and the Ezong clan of the Mipongsandre phratry. In speaking of women of the Nguli, Kithang, Sempinguli, Sityingonguli, Shetri and Humtsoi clans the Northern Lhotas use oyo and its derivatives, while the Southern Lhotas use opfu and its derivatives. The custom with regard to women of the Yanthang, Moyoyanthang and Tsangle clans varies in different villages. The Lhotas cannot account for the existence of two terms for ‘mother,’ nor can they say why a particular term is used in speaking of women born in a particular clan.5