Niece and nephew explained

In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle. The gender-neutral term nibling has 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 a second-degree relationship. Unless related by marriage, they are 25% or more related by blood if the aunt/uncle is a full sibling of one of the parents, or 12.5% if they are a half-sibling.

Lexicology

The word nephew is derived from the French word French: neveu which is derived from the Latin Latin: nepos.[2] The term nepotism, meaning familial loyalty, is derived from this Latin term.[3] Niece entered Middle English from the Old French word French, Old (842-ca.1400);: nece, which also derives from Latin Latin: nepotem.[4] The word nibling, derived from sibling, is a neologism suggested by Samuel Martin in 1951 as a cover term for "nephew or niece"; it is not common outside of specialist literature. Sometimes in discussions involving analytic material or in abstract literature, terms such as male nibling and female nibling are preferred to describe nephews and nieces respectively.[5] Terms such as nibling are also sometimes viewed as a gender-neutral alternative to terms which may be viewed as perpetuating the overgenderization of the English language;[6] it can also be used likewise to refer to non-binary relatives.[7]

These French-derived terms displaced the Middle English English, Middle (1100-1500);: nyfte, English, Middle (1100-1500);: nift, English, Middle (1100-1500);: nifte, from Old English, from Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: *niftiz ('niece'); and the Middle English English, Middle (1100-1500);: neve, English, Middle (1100-1500);: neave, from Old English English, Old (ca.450-1100);: nefa, from Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: *nefô ('nephew').[8] [9] [10] [11]

Culture

Traditionally, a nephew was the logical recipient of his uncle's inheritance if 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 in Mauritius,[15] and the Thai Nakhon 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 some Garifuna people that would transmit languages to their nieces.[17] In some proselytizing communities the term niece was 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

In some cultures and family traditions, it is common to refer to cousins with one or more removals to a newer generation using some form of the word niece or nephew. For more information see cousin.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Conklin, Harold C.. Ward Hunt Goodenough. Explorations in Cultural Anthropology: Essays in Honor of George Peter Murdock. https://archive.org/details/explorationsincu00good. registration. 1964. McGraw-Hill. 35. Ethnogenealogical method.
  2. Web site: nephew (n.) . . Douglas Harper . 8 June 2016 .
  3. Book: Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation . Meakins . Felicity . 2016 . 91 . Felicity Meakins .
  4. Encyclopedia: niece, n. . . June 2016 . Oxford University Press . June 26, 2016 .
  5. Keen . Ian . Definitions of kin . . 41 . 1 . 1985 . 62–90 .
  6. Hill . Jane H. . Kenneth C. Hill . Culture Influencing Language: Plurals of Hopi Kin Terms in Comparative Uto‐Aztecan Perspective . . 7 . 2 . 1997 . 166–180 . }
  7. News: Jennifer Lopez shares video about transgender 'nibling,' Brendon . Gwen . Aviles . . August 24, 2020 . May 25, 2024 .
  8. Book: Buck, Carl Darling . A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages . 3 July 2008 . University of Chicago Press . 9780226228860 . .
  9. Book: Ringe, Donald . From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic: A Linguistic History of English . 31 August 2006 . Oxford University Press . 9780191536335 . .
  10. Book: Jones, William Jervis . German kinship terms, 750–1500: documentation and analysis . 19 March 1990 . . 9780899255736 . .
  11. Book: Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture . J. P. . Mallory . Douglas Q. . Adams . 19 March 1997 . . 9781884964985 . .
  12. Book: Stahl. Anne. Victims who Do Not Cooperate with Law Enforcement in Domestic Violence Incidents. 2007. 19.
  13. Web site: Marginality, Modes of insecurity and Indigenous Women of Northern Bangladesh. Chakraborty. Eshani. calternatives.org. 8 June 2016.
  14. The Politics of Culture in Humanitarian Aid to Women Refugees Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence. Transcultural Psychiatry. 37. 3. 435–449. McGill University. 10.1177/136346150003700309. 2000. Atlani. Laàtitia. Rousseau. C…Cile. 146534532.
  15. Comparative Studies in Society and History — The Religion and Culture of Indian Immigrants in Mauritius and the Effect of Social Change — Cambridge Journals Online. 2. 241–257. Comparative Studies in Society and History. 8. 2016-04-11. 10.1017/S0010417500004023. Hazareesingh. K.. January 1966. 144617688 .
  16. Web site: Knowledge Management on Local Wisdom of Tai-so Community Weaving Culture in Phone Sawan District, Nakhon Phanom Province. Npu.ac.th. 2016-04-11.
  17. Web site: Language transmission in a Garifuna community: Challenging current notions about language death. Dialnet.unirioja.es. 2016-04-11.
  18. Web site: Divine Domesticities : Christian Paradoxes in Asia and the Pacific. Oapen.org. 2016-04-11.
  19. Book: Gustaffson. Berit. Traditions and Modernities in Gender Roles: Transformations in Kinship and Marriage Among the M'Buke from Manus Province. 1999. 7.
  20. Web site: Definition of Grandnephew by Merriam-Webster. merriam-webster.com. Merriam-Webster. 16 October 2020.
  21. Web site: Definition of Great-nephew by Merriam-Webster. merriam-webster.com. Merriam-Webster. 16 October 2020.
  22. Web site: Definition Of Half Niece by Merriam-Webster. merriam-webster.com . Merriam-webster . March 30, 2022.
  23. Web site: Definition Of Half Nephew by Merriam-Webster. merriam-webster.com. Merriam-webster . March 30, 2022.

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