Kinship Terminology

We have placed an extended presentation of Bhaktapur's kinship terminology and a discussion of its relation to other North Indian kinship terminologies in appendix 3, where it may be used for reference. We will restrict ourselves here to some remarks on the relation of that terminology to the categories of kin we have taken note of in the preceding sections.

Many of the terms in the Newar kinship system designate very large classes of kin; a whole generation of consanguineous and affinal male kin may be designated as "brothers," "grandfathers," "grandchildren," and so on. However, much smaller segments of these classes are usually at issue in the discussions and actions of ordinary life. The segment involved is, as always in such classificatory systems, indicated by the context in which the term is used, and/or by various verbal devices. Thus, by adding terms designating "one's own," (tha: ) or "true/real" (khas or sakhai , terms derived from Nepali or Sanskrit), one can designate a "biological" nuclear mother, father, or sibling within the larger class and can designate a biological mother's biological brother or biological father's biological sister in the same way. For siblings these terms specify that the siblings share the same father. If it is necessary to distinguish a common mother of two siblings, terms indicating birth from the same maternal "abdomen," such as chaga pwa , are used. Such terms and various contexts of use discriminates "ego's" (the person in relation to whom a set of kinship terms have their meanings) core family.

The next larger grouping that is commonly distinguished is that segment of the various generations of kin who belong to ego's patriline, his kul and phuki . If the context leaves any room for ambiguity, the term "phuki " can be added. Thus those males of the same generation as "ego" (daju-kija ) who belong to the patriline can be designated as phuki daju-kija . In most speech it is clear whether the kin reference is to (1) the core family group, (2) members of the phuki (including one of the women attached to it), or (3) the residual of classificatory kin related through affinal and feminal links. Members of this residual group can be further distinguished and grouped by additional terms if necessary. For descending generations beyond the first it is possible through the addition of mhyae (daughter) as a preface to the generational term for a descendant of a given generation, to indicate that the descendant is being traced through a daughter at some point and does not, therefore, belong to the phuki , as would be implied by the use of the term in most contexts. As appendix 3 indicates, kin acquired through ego's own marriage are clearly discriminated as a group, although in a different fashion for men and for women.

The subclasses of the larger classificatory kinship terminological system, which are significant and must be understood and signaled in one way or another are, of course, the important social structural components of the kin-group. These are, in sum, the nuclear family, phuki , mother's brothers and their families and extensions, the group of

tha:thiti , and ego's affines. The very large terminological classes of "brothers" and "sisters," "mothers" and "fathers," "grandchildren," and so forth are easily placed in the proper smaller category