[Xmca-l] Re: kinship

[Martin Packer]

So James,

Could a childless couple in China be called a family? 

Or would they need to have a pig?  :)

To all: In English we don’t call a childless couple a family, do we?

Martin

"I may say that whenever I meet Mrs. Seligman or Dr. Lowie or discuss matters with Radcliffe-Brown or Kroeber, I become at once aware that my partner does not understand anything in the matter, and I end usually with the feeling that this also applies to myself” (Malinowski, 1930)



> On Jan 7, 2018, at 5:45 PM, James Ma <jamesma320@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Just to add an etymological aspect that you might be interested to know
> (this is because Chines is logographical).
> 
> According to the Chinese Oracle, family 家 has two parts: the upper
> part 宀 refers
> to "room"; the lower part 豕 refers to "pig". In the ancient times, people
> raised pigs in their houses, so having pigs in a house was a hallmark of
> living. In modern Chinese, family also indicates "relationship", e.g. 亲如一家
> as close as a family.
> 
> James
> 
> 
> *_____________________________________*
> 
> *James Ma*  *https://oxford.academia.edu/JamesMa
> <https://oxford.academia.edu/JamesMa>   *
> 
> 
> On 7 January 2018 at 21:30, David Kellogg <dkellogg60@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> In Chinese and in Korean, the word "family" is related to housing rather
>> than to kinship. In European languages it is the other way around. This
>> does suggest something semantic, no?
>> 
>> David Kellogg
>> 
>> Recent Article in *Mind, Culture, and Activity* 24 (4) 'Metaphoric,
>> Metonymic, Eclectic, or Dialectic? A Commentary on “Neoformation: A
>> Dialectical Approach to Developmental Change”'
>> 
>> Free e-print available (for a short time only) at
>> 
>> http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YAWPBtmPM8knMCNg6sS6/full
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Jan 8, 2018 at 6:22 AM, Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Martin,
>>> Well that is a difficult question to answer without knowing what you mean
>>> by "family"?
>>> What in the world do you mean by "family"?
>>> -greg
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Jan 7, 2018 at 12:59 PM, Martin Packer <mpacker@cantab.net>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I am struggling with the way ‘family’ and ‘kinship’ have been defined,
>> or
>>>> not defined, in psychology and anthropology. One question that has
>>> occurred
>>>> to me is whether a word equivalent to ‘family’ exists in every
>> language.
>>>> When I Google this, Google responds ‘Ask Siri’…  :(
>>>> 
>>>> Anyone have an idea?
>>>> 
>>>> Martin
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
>>> Assistant Professor
>>> Department of Anthropology
>>> 880 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
>>> Brigham Young University
>>> Provo, UT 84602
>>> WEBSITE: greg.a.thompson.byu.edu
>>> http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
>>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail>
> Virus-free.
> www.avast.com
> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail>
> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>