A Presentation and Description of Lyngam Kinship Terms

Abstract

The Lyngam lexicon used to refer to and address kinsmen is shaped mainly by blood versus affinal relations, clan and phratry membership, and the by now said to be largely defunct practice of cross-cousin marriage. Before a presentation and description of the kinship terms and their usages, a description of relevant aspects of Lyngam society that are necessary to provide some background information about the cultural environment in which the kinship terms are used. A glossary of all Lyngam words in this article is provided at the end of the article.