Latin Kin Terms

Latin/Ancient Roman Kinship Terms

Latin provides an example of one of the fullest Sudanese systems in that it uses an actual term rather than a descriptive compound for every relationship including cousins, i.e. amitinus rather than amita's son or father's sister's son.

Latin has also provided anthropologists with a basis for formulating a highly descriptive general terminology for crosscultural use. You should note the Latin roots in such terms as matrilineal and patrilineal, avunculocality (residing with a mother's brother) and amitalocality (residing with a father's sister) and fraternal polyandry or sororal polygamy. Other Latin roots, such as uxor (wife), viri (husband), and levir (husband's brother) also appear in anthropological terminology.