Niece and nephew
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In thelineal kinshipsystem used in the English-speaking world, anieceornephewis a child of an individual'ssiblingorsibling-in-law.A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblingsauntoruncle.The gender-neutral termniblinghas been used in place of the common terms, especially in specialist literature.[1]
As aunt/uncle and niece/nephew are separated by one generation, they are an example of asecond-degree relationship.Unless related by marriage, they are 25% or morerelated by bloodif the aunt/uncle is a fullsiblingof one of the parents, or 12.5% if they are ahalf-sibling.
Lexicology
[edit]The word nephew is derived from theFrenchwordneveuwhich is derived from theLatinnepos.[2]The termnepotism,meaning familial loyalty, is derived from this Latin term.[3]NieceenteredMiddle Englishfrom theOld Frenchwordnece,which also derives from Latinnepotem.[4]The wordnibling,derived fromsibling,is aneologismsuggested bySamuel Martinin 1951 as a cover term for "nephew or niece"; it is not common outside of specialist literature.[1]Sometimes in discussions involving analytic material or in abstract literature, terms such asmale niblingandfemale niblingare preferred to describe nephews and nieces respectively.[5]Terms such asniblingare also sometimes viewed as agender-neutral alternativeto terms which may be viewed as perpetuating the overgenderization of the English language;[6]it can also be used likewise to refer tonon-binaryrelatives.[7]
These French-derived terms displaced theMiddle Englishnyfte,nift,nifte,fromOld Englishnift,fromProto-Germanic*niftiz('niece'); and theMiddle Englishneve,neave,fromOld Englishnefa,fromProto-Germanic*nefô('nephew').[8][9][10][11]
Culture
[edit] | This articlemay need to be rewrittento comply with Wikipedia'squality standards.(September 2016) |
Traditionally, a nephew was the logical recipient of his uncle'sinheritanceif the latter did not have a successor. A nephew might have more rights of inheritance than the uncle's daughter.[12][13]
In social environments that lacked a stable home or environments such as refugee situations, uncles and fathers would equally be assigned responsibility for their sons and nephews.[14]
Among parents, some cultures have assigned equal status in their social status to daughters and nieces. This is, for instance, the case in Indian communities inMauritius,[15]and the ThaiNakhon Phanom Province,where the transfer of cultural knowledge such as weaving was distributed equally among daughters, nieces and nieces-in-law by the Tai So community,[16]and someGarifuna peoplethat would transmit languages to their nieces.[17]In some proselytizing communities the termniecewas informally extended to include non-related younger female community members as a form of endearment.[18]Among some tribes in Manus Province of Papua New Guinea, women's roles as sisters, daughters and nieces may have taken precedence over their marital status in social importance.[19]
Additional terms
[edit]- Agrandnepheworgrandnieceis the grandson or granddaughter of one's sibling.[20]Also calledgreat-nephew/great-niece.[21]
- Ahalf-nieceorhalf-nephewis the child of one's half-sibling,relatedby 12.5%.[22][23]
In some cultures and family traditions, it is common to refer tocousinswith one or more removals to a newer generation using some form of the word niece or nephew. For more information seecousin.
References
[edit]- ^abConklin, Harold C. (1964)."Ethnogenealogical method".In Ward Hunt Goodenough (ed.).Explorations in Cultural Anthropology: Essays in Honor of George Peter Murdock.McGraw-Hill. p.35.
- ^"nephew (n.)".Online Etymology Dictionary.Douglas Harper.Retrieved8 June2016.
- ^Meakins, Felicity(2016).Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation.p. 91.
- ^"niece, n.".Oxford English Dictionary.Oxford University Press. June 2016.Retrieved26 June2016.
- ^Keen, Ian (1985). "Definitions of kin".Journal of Anthropological Research.41(1): 62–90.doi:10.1086/jar.41.1.3630271.
- ^Hill, Jane H.; Kenneth C. Hill (1997). "Culture Influencing Language: Plurals of Hopi Kin Terms in Comparative Uto-Aztecan Perspective".Journal of Linguistic Anthropology.7(2): 166–180.doi:10.1525/jlin.1997.7.2.166.}
- ^Aviles, Gwen (24 August 2020)."Jennifer Lopez shares video about transgender 'nibling,' Brendon".NBC News.Retrieved25 May2024.
- ^Buck, Carl Darling (3 July 2008).A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages.University of Chicago Press.ISBN9780226228860– viaGoogle Books.
- ^Ringe, Donald (31 August 2006).From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic: A Linguistic History of English.Oxford University Press.ISBN9780191536335– viaGoogle Books.
- ^Jones, William Jervis (19 March 1990).German kinship terms, 750–1500: documentation and analysis.W. de Gruyter.ISBN9780899255736– viaGoogle Books.
- ^Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (19 March 1997).Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture.Taylor & Francis.ISBN9781884964985– viaGoogle Books.
- ^Stahl, Anne (2007).Victims who Do Not Cooperate with Law Enforcement in Domestic Violence Incidents.p. 19.
- ^Chakraborty, Eshani."Marginality, Modes of insecurity and Indigenous Women of Northern Bangladesh"(PDF).calternatives.org.Retrieved8 June2016.
- ^Atlani, Laàtitia; Rousseau, C…Cile (2000). "The Politics of Culture in Humanitarian Aid to Women Refugees Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence".Transcultural Psychiatry.37(3). McGill University: 435–449.doi:10.1177/136346150003700309.S2CID146534532.
- ^Hazareesingh, K. (January 1966)."Comparative Studies in Society and History — The Religion and Culture of Indian Immigrants in Mauritius and the Effect of Social Change — Cambridge Journals Online".Comparative Studies in Society and History.8(2): 241–257.doi:10.1017/S0010417500004023.S2CID144617688.Retrieved11 April2016.
- ^"Knowledge Management on Local Wisdom of Tai-so Community Weaving Culture in Phone Sawan District, Nakhon Phanom Province"(PDF).Npu.ac.th.Retrieved11 April2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^"Language transmission in a Garifuna community: Challenging current notions about language death".Dialnet.unirioja.es.Retrieved11 April2016.
- ^"Divine Domesticities: Christian Paradoxes in Asia and the Pacific".Oapen.org.Retrieved11 April2016.
- ^Gustaffson, Berit (1999).Traditions and Modernities in Gender Roles: Transformations in Kinship and Marriage Among the M'Buke from Manus Province.p. 7.
- ^"Definition of Grandnephew by Merriam-Webster".merriam-webster.com.Merriam-Webster.Retrieved16 October2020.
- ^"Definition of Great-nephew by Merriam-Webster".merriam-webster.com.Merriam-Webster.Retrieved16 October2020.
- ^"Definition Of Half Niece by Merriam-Webster".merriam-webster.com.Merriam-webster.Retrieved30 March2022.
- ^"Definition Of Half Nephew by Merriam-Webster".merriam-webster.com.Merriam-webster.Retrieved30 March2022.
External links
[edit]- Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 384.
- Lancaster, F. M. (October 2005)."Types of Collateral Relationships - Uncle/Aunt Nephew/Niece".Genetic and Quantitative Aspects of Genealogy.Retrieved25 June2016.
- Dictionary.com, "nephew,"in Dictionary.com Unabridged. Source location: Random House, Inc. Available:Dictionary.com Is The World's Favorite Online Dictionary.Retrieved: January 1, 2011