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Sukanya Das, Lovely Professional University Unit 2: Kinship: Basic Terms and Concepts: Lineage, Clan, Phratry, Moiety ...

Unit 2: Kinship: Basic Terms and Concepts: Notes

Lineage, Clan, Phratry, Moiety,
Kingroup, Kindred, Incest, Descent

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction

2.1 Lineage, Clan, Phratry, Moiety, Descent
2.2 Kin group and Kindred
2.3 Summary

2.4 Keywords
2.5 Review Questions
2.6 Further Readings

Objectives
After studying of this unit, students will be able to:
• Understand the meaning of Lineage, clan, phratry and moiety.
• Know about concept of kinship group and kindred.
• Understand the determination of descent in kinship arrangement.

Introduction

If you say in hypothetic way, any stage of pre-family must be a stage, lacking culture as well as
social organisation. Moreover, family in form of social group is neither an only institution nor
a group based on kins relation. Hotel, restaurant, creche, school, college, hospital, club, bank
etc. secondary groups based on personal benefits popular in city society also fulfill our several
needs. In an ancient societies, these types of needs were fulfilled by family and other types of
kinship groups. These kinship groups were liked by secondary security row.
Family is based on unitary relations of kinship. The expansion of this unity is in two directions
all over—
The direction of family is related to the birth of father and family is related to birth of morther.

2.1 Lineage, Clan, Phratry, Moiety, Descent

According to modern tradition, the use of Lineage or clan of the family related to birth of mother
is not done by the offsprings. Moreover, a woman leaves the lineage and clan of the family of her
birth after marriage as well as adopts the lineage name of her husband’s family. And no family
can ignore both of these parties in a high degree. Therefore, a family is called a bipartite group.
A special example of this bipartite character is seen in Kadar tribes. Kadar gives equal impor-
tance to both the parties or also neglects both in similar way. There is no specific example which

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