A code used by kinship analysts to refer to a category of kinsman.
Comment:For example, "SiHu" means "sister's husband," and "FaSiHuMoBr" means "father's sister's husband's mother's brother." (As far as I know, there is no English word that refers to such a person.) Perhaps the commonest use of kintypes is in identifying the referents of kinterms in various languages.
Single-letter and double-letter systems are in common use: F/Fa = father, M/Mo = mother, B/Br = brother, Z/Si = sister, S/So = son, D/Da = daughter, H/Hu = husband, W/Wi = wife.
For some purposes it is necessary to extend the set by omitting the gender distinction: P/Pa = parent, G/Sb = sibling, C/Ch = child, E/Sp = spouse.
Other modifications may be necessary for some societies, such as when people routinely distinguish between elder and younger siblings, or when the category is different depending on the gender of the speaker. There is no standardization for such extensions.
Definition Revised: 2005-10-20
Script Last Modified: 2022-05-30
Search term: "kintype" (Debugging)