“Sesotho kinship”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The most complexity is displayed in the terms used by one to refer to male and female relatives in one's own generation. Immediate siblings and parallel cousins have similar terms, while cross-cousins all have a single name {{H:title|[mʊt͡sʼʷɑlɑ]|motswala|dotted=no}} derived from the verb -{{H:title|[t͡sʼʷɑlɑ]|tswala|dotted=no}} ("give birth"), denoting the fact that cross-cousin marriage is encouraged.^[1]

The words used by ego when referring to his/her siblings depend on ego's gender, the relative age of ego's sibling, and whether ego is talking about their sibling (nominative) or to their sibling (vocative).^[2]

When speaking to the sibling directly, the names in the table above are used, but when directly speaking to a sibling younger than oneself it is more usual to use their name directly without a title prefix.

Additionally, the name {{H:title|[xɑ'it͡sʼedi]|kgaitsedi|dotted=no}} may used when speaking about/to a younger sibling of the opposite gender.

Ego's children's generation

For the generation directly below that of the ego, the names one uses for the children of one's siblings, cross-cousins, and parallel cousins are simply determined by whether or not one has the same gender as the relative on the same generation, who is the child's parent. In particular, all children who are related to the ego by a parent of the same gender as the ego are referred to as one's children, whereas everyone else from this generation is referred to by the generic term {{H:title|[mʊt͡ʃʰɑnɑ]|motjhana|dotted=no}}. Equivalently, if a child refers to ego as {{H:title|[ʀɑxɑdɪ]|rakgadi|dotted=no}} or {{H:title|[mɑlʊmɛ]|malome|dotted=no}}, then ego refers to the child as {{H:title|[mʊt͡ʃʰɑnɑ]|motjhana|dotted=no}}.

If ego has married their motswala or even "sibling", then that relation's children – who are also ego's biological children – will simply be given the same name as ego's children without further complication.

The names used for ego's children are {{H:title|[mʊʀɑ]|mora|dotted=no}} and {{H:title|[mʊʀɑdi]|moradi|dotted=no}}, depending on the child's gender.

In summary, ego can marry a relative only if ego's parents call that relative {{H:title|[mʊt͡ʃʰɑnɑ]|motjhana|dotted=no}}. This bars marriage to parallel cousins as well as relatives in generations above and below oneself.^[4]

Remaining generations

Regardless of direct descent or ancestry, all relatives in generations above ego's parents are called {{H:title|[ŋ̩xʊnʊ]|nkgono|dotted=no}} and {{H:title|[n̩tʼɑtʼemʊɦʊlʊ]|ntatemoholo|dotted=no}} for females and males respectively, and all relatives below ego's children are called {{H:title|[sɪt͡ɬʼʊɦʊlʊ]|setloholo|dotted=no}}. If the specific generation of one's grandchildren is important, then it can be marked by successively applying diminutive suffixes to the word {{H:title|[sɪt͡ɬʼʊɦʊlʊ]|setloholo|dotted=no}}, giving

Ego's spouse and in-laws

In the vocative, relations through marriage are not distinguished from relations through birth/adoption. However, to avoid ambiguity, in the nominative there exist special terms for parents-in-law and children-in-law. It is worth noting that the terms for a female ego's parents-in-law literally mean "my (parallel) cousin's mother" and "my (parallel) cousin's father", even if one did not marry their cousin; this a relic of the traditional encouragement of parallel cousin marriage.

A male calls simply calls his parents-in-law "mother " and "father", but in the nominative a woman may call her in-laws by the gender-neutral term {{H:title|[mɑt͡sʼɑlɛ]|matsale|dotted=no}}.^[5]

The generic term for a spouse is {{H:title|[mʊɦɑt͡sʼɑ]|mohatsa|dotted=no}}. More specifically, in the nominative a husband is {{H:title|[mʊn̩nɑ]|monna|dotted=no}} and wife is {{H:title|[mʊsɑdi]|mosadi|dotted=no}} (generic terms for "man" and "woman", respectively). In the vocative, {{H:title|[n̩tʼɑtʼe]|ntate|dotted=no}} and {{H:title|[m̩mɛ]|mme|dotted=no}} are used or – less formerly – the generic {{H:title|[mʊɦɑt͡sʼɑkʼɑ]|mohats'aka|dotted=no}} ("my spouse") is used.

Notes

1. ^This automatically bars marriage to a relative from the same clan or with the same surname, when considering patrilineal or matrilineal descent. That is, if the rules of cousin marriage are adhered to perfectly, and relatives do not marry across generational lines, then it is impossible for two people from the same family and with the same surname to enter into a sanctioned marriage.
2. ^Sesotho does not have noun case. We use nominative here to refer to the default form of the noun, whereas by vocative we mean the form used to address the person directly.
3. ^¹The terms {{H:title|[ɑ'usi]|ausi|dotted=no}} and {{H:title|[ɑbutʼi]|abuti|dotted=no}} come from Afrikaans ou sis (older sister) and ou boet (older brother) respectively. In the past, {{H:title|[mʊɦʊlʷɑnɪ]|Moholwane|dotted=no}} was gender-neutral.
4. ^This is in a theoretically "pure" setting where no taboos are broken. That is, not the real world.
5. ^This asymmetry is due to traditional {{H:title|[ɬonɪpʰɑ]|hlonepha|dotted=no}} rules, which applied most prominently to daughters-in-law. In modern times, the more stringent (gender-asymmetric) {{H:title|[ɬonɪpʰɑ]|hlonepha|dotted=no}} rules have largely been abandoned and as a result the term {{H:title|[mɑt͡sʼɑlɛ]|matsale|dotted=no}} is often used by both daughters- and sons-in-law. Moreover, under the influence of Setswana and Northern Sotho the term {{H:title|[mɑt͡sʼɑlɛ]|matsale|dotted=no}} has diverged into the gender-specific {{H:title|[m̩mɑt͡sʼɑlɛ]|mmatsale|dotted=no}} and {{H:title|[ʀɑt͡sʼɑlɛ]|ratsale|dotted=no}} for mother- and father-in-law respectively.

Generations

Ego's parents generation

Ego's generation

Ego's children's generation

Remaining generations

Ego's spouse and in-laws

Notes

References