Cultural Anthropology: Chapter 8 Family and Marriage

Kinship

A culturally defined system of social relationships based on descent, marriage, and shared social ties.

Consanguineal kinship

Relationships established through recognized biological descent or shared ancestry.

Affinal kinship

Relationships created through marriage, such as in-laws.

Fictive kinship

Social bonds treated as family relationships that are not established through biological descent or marriage, such as godparenthood or legal adoption.

Unilineal descent

A kinship tracking system that traces descent exclusively through one parental line, either maternal or paternal.

Bilateral descent

A kinship tracking system that traces descent equally through both maternal and paternal lines.

Patrilineal descent

A descent system where kinship, lineage, and inheritance are traced through the male line.

Matrilineal descent

A descent system where kinship, lineage, and inheritance are traced through the female line.

Patrilocal residence

A post-marital residence pattern where a newly married couple lives with or near the groom's relatives.

Matrilocal residence

A post-marital residence pattern where a newly married couple lives with or near the bride's relatives.

Neolocal residence

A post-marital residence pattern where a newly married couple establishes an independent household separate from both kin groups.

Avunculocal residence

A post-marital residence pattern where a married couple settles with or near the husband's maternal uncle.

Exogamy

A social norm or rule requiring an individual to marry outside of their designated group or kin category.

Endogamy

A social norm or rule requiring an individual to marry within a specific social group, caste, or category.

Polygyny

A marital practice in which one man has multiple wives simultaneously.

Polyandry

A marital practice in which one woman has multiple husbands simultaneously.

Bridewealth

A customary transfer of valuable goods or money from the groom or his family to the bride's family to validate the marriage.

Dowry

A customary transfer of family wealth, property, or goods from the bride's family to the bride or the new household upon marriage.

Brideservice

A customary arrangement where a groom provides physical labor to the bride's family before or after marriage.

Nuclear family

A domestic unit consisting of two parents and their immediate dependent children.

Extended family

A domestic unit or kin network consisting of three or more generations or multiple related nuclear family clusters.