LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:1 January 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

Language in India www.languageinindia.com is included in the UGC Approved List of Journals. Serial Number 49042.

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2016
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
Custom Search

Changes in the Core Kinship Terminologies:
A Case Study of Hindu Kinship Terms in Kerala

Resmi P
Jawaharlal Nehru University

Abstract

Kinship terminologies are considered to be that part of the core vocabulary resistant to linguistic changes. Dravidian language Malayalam, has a classificatory set of kinship terminologies in which the terms for the secondary kin, i.e., father’s brother or mother’s sister is a derivative of the term for father and mother respectively. The goal of the present paper is to examine the changing patterns in the native Hindu kinship terms in the in Kerala. In the contemporary urban social organisation the generic terms in English which is generally used for addressing relations not related by blood ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt-ie’ seem to have started replacing the native kinship terms. Undoubtedly, this change in the use of kinship terminology is not a case of internal linguistic changes. The kinship terms are not just a string of letters which constitute a lexicon, but encapsulate expressions of human relationships, how these relationships are organised, how they interact with one another, the roles they play. They are the true indicators of how the kin roles are enacted and maintained. It implies that the kinship terms cannot be abstracted from actual living experiences and entails that when there are transformations in the nature of relationships in a family or in society in wider context, the semantic content of the kinship terminologies starts shrinking, and consequently in course of time, they are replaced or lost. Any transformation in the use of kinship terminology essentially indicates transformations in the very nature of these family relationships it embodies.

Keywords:

Introduction

The pattern of Dravidian kinship dates back to two thousand years and is attested to be extremely durable and resistant (Trautmann 1981). Studies on kinship terminology suggest that the structures of kinship terminology are slow to change and resistant to the effects of changed political, economic or social circumstances. The lesson of history is that kinship terminology is very conservative and resistant to the effects of other levels. (Trautman 2001:270)

Malayalam has an extensive system of lexicon as part of the kinship terminologies, the reason being that language follows a classificatory system of naming the kins. The basic organising principle of the Hindu Dravidian kinship system has been identified as two. The father’s brother is equivalent to father and mother’s sister to mother. So father’s brother is called ‘big’ or ‘little’ father valiyachchan or ilayachchan, the mother’s sister ‘big’ or ‘little’ mother, valiyamma or ilayamma , mother’s brother is ammavan/ maman . muutta 'elder' and valiya ‘big’, refer to older or senior siblings; ilaya 'younger' and ceriya ‘small' refer younger or junior siblings of ego’s father in the first ascending generation.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Resmi P
Centre for Linguistics
School Of Language, Literature & Culture Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi 110067
India
resmiprakash@gmail.com

Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.