Moiety

Seals of the Sitka people in Alaska, divided into two matrilineal moieties

As Moiety ([ mɔɪ̯ətɪ ] f. , Plurality moieties; English "half"; from French moitié , latin medietas "middle half") or lineage denotes the anthropology (Ethnology) one of the two large groups, in which ethnic groups with split into a dual organization, i.e. each of the two halves of a village , tribe or people . Members of a society with such a two-group system belong to one of two moieties, which are mostly divided into smaller ancestry groups ( lineages or clans ); membership in a moiety community is hereditary and unchangeable.

For most of these peoples, marriages are not permitted within, but only between the two moieties ( exogamy : outside of one's own group); after marriage, each partner continues to belong to their own moiety. Securing outside marriages is often the main task of a moiety community.

In most dual systems, the two moieties to create single-line descent rules and kinship , all members derive their descent from a common ancestress or a progenitor ago, so the whole society leads separated to two ( mythical ) founder back. Moieties often have their own totem animal or symbol as a “family badge” .

Moieties are in the Ethnosociology with lineages , clans and phratries (associations Clan) broader than " single-line descent sgruppen" summarized (unilineal descent groups) .

distribution

Half-organization and moiety systems can be found among many peoples in Australia , Papua New Guinea and Melanesia , but they also occur on the American double continent . While most two-group peoples are divided into a maternal ( matrilineal ) and a father-side ( patrilineal ) group (see the Ngaing ), there are also peoples with two matrilinearly organized moieties (see the Tolai ), as well as some peoples with more than two moieties or moieties for different social tasks.

Instead of a common ancestry, moieties can also derive from other social contexts, for example from separate areas with “East and West people” or with “Winter and summer people”, or moieties differentiate between “red and black people”. In the small matrilineal Lak people in Papua New Guinea, the two moieties consist of "sea eagles" and "osprey", in the small matrilineal Nissan people in Papua Guinea from "who eat the dog" and "who eat the pig". For the small Canela ethnic group in northeastern Brazil, the village is divided into a "western" and an "eastern" moiety: the former includes all men aged 10, 30 and 50, while the eastern "half" includes all men aged 20, 40 and 60 years can be assigned.

Relationship between the moieties

The relationship between the two moieties is both complementary and conflicting. Each of the two moieties has different characteristics, usually one moiety is considered to be socially slightly superior to the other, but correct class or layer differences are rarely found in dual-organized societies. Every member has to adhere to the corresponding commandments ( norms ) and prohibitions ( taboos ) and is subject to clear marriage rules . Depending on the people, for example, a moiety member may not marry someone from their own lineage (prescribed exogamy : outside ), in other societies with dual organization partners may only be chosen from the same moiety (prescribed endogamy : within their own group). Sometimes one moiety buries the dead of the other, or it raises their animals and slaughters them; the prey of one moiety sometimes benefits the other. Members of the two moieties often compete against each other in ritual or sporting games and competitions. The two moieties are often associated with dualistic symbols , for example "day - night", "right - left", or a symbolic division of the entire cosmos (see Yin - Yang ).

Relationships in Moieties

In societies with a dual organization, the kinship terms almost always depend on the affiliation of the person making the designation (“ ego ”) and the person designated to the respective moiety. As an example, the names of the Njamal people from Northwest Australia are compiled below (based on John Lynch 1998). The Njamal are divided into two patrilineal and exogamous moieties. The dependence of the designation on the respective moiety and on other factors - such as the relative age or gender of the speaker - leads to a very extensive system of designations for kinship that differs greatly from the system of the western world (the so-called " Eskimo system ", see also German relatives ).

It is noticeable that the same designation maili and mabidi for grandparents and grandchildren is quite common in Australian and Melanesian languages . The categories important for the designation are therefore relative generation (as in the Eskimo system), the respective moiety and relative age, but only partially the gender of the person referred to. Within the same generation and moiety, the exact parentage does not play a role, for example no distinction is made between "father" and "brother of the father" (uncle on the paternal side):

Names of the grandparent generation in the Australian Njamal:

maili: paternal grandfather - as well as all other men of the own moiety of this generation (brother of the paternal grandfather, brother of the paternal grandmother etc.)
kabardi: paternal grandmother - as well as all other women of the other moiety of this generation (sister of the paternal grandfather, sister of the paternal grandmother etc.)
mabidi: maternal grandfather - as well as all other men of the other moiety of this generation (brother of the maternal grandfather etc.)
kandari: maternal grandmother - as well as all other women of the own moiety of this generation (sister of the maternal grandmother etc.)

Parent generation designations:

mama: every male member of the parents' generation in their own moiety (father, father's brother, husband of mother's sister, etc.)
karna: every male member of the parent generation in the other moiety (mother's brother, father's sister's husband, etc.)
midari: every female member of the parent generation in their own moiety (father's sister, wife of mother's brother, etc.)
ngardi: every female member of the parent generation in the other moiety (mother, mother's sisters, wife of father's brother, etc.)

Designations in the own generation:

kurda: older brother (own moiety)
turda: older sister (own moiety)
maraga: younger brother or younger sister (own moiety, gender neutral)
njuba:

said by man: wife, wife of brother (other moiety)

said by wife: husband, sister's husband (other moiety)
ngarbarri , used only by men: wife's brother, sister's husband (other moiety)
julburu , only used by women: husband's sister, brother's wife (other moiety)

Name of the children's generation:

tjilja:

said by the man: own child, brother's child (own moiety)

said by the woman: own child, sister's child (other moiety)
ngaraija:

said by man: sister's child (other moiety)

said by the woman: brother's child (own moiety)

Designation of the grandchildren (same as the grandparents' generation):

maili: every member of the grandchildren who belongs to their own moiety (gender-neutral)
mabidi: every member of the grandchildren who belongs to the other moiety (gender neutral)

literature

John Lynch: Pacific Languages. An Introduction. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1998, ISBN 978-0-8248-1898-2 , pp. 251-257: Chapter 11.3.1 Language, Society, and Culture in the Pacific Context: Nijamal Kinship Terms (English; side view in Google Book search).

Web links

Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Organization of halves and sections. (PDF; 1.9 MB) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 2/5, Institute for Cultural and Social Anthropology, University of Vienna, 2011, pp. 79–82 , archived from the original on October 21, 2013 ; accessed on August 9, 2014 (58 pages; documents for your lecture in the 2011 summer semester).

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Organization of halves and sections. (PDF; 1.9 MB) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 2/5, University of Vienna, 2011, pp. 79–80 , archived from the original on October 21, 2013 ; Retrieved on August 9, 2014 : “Society is divided into moieties when the entire society is divided into two halves (moieties) on the basis of a unilinear rule of descent (either patrilinear or matrilinear descent). In general, the moieties are exogamous; H. an individual must always seek his partner from the other half. E.g. a member of Moiety A has to look for his partner from Moiety B and vice versa. “The moieties can be a mere classificatory device by which people are divided into one category or another, or they can be grouped, whereby society is divided into two groups for one or more purposes. The dichotomy can be based on descent or on some other principle (e.g. ›winter and summer‹ people, ›east and west‹ people, ›red and black‹ people.) «(VIVELO 1981: p.230 ) Half-organization exists z. B. with individual North and South American groups as well as with the Australian Aborigines. [...] For societies that have such a division into halves (moieties), the term dual organization or dual system is also used in ethnology. (cf. VIVELO 1981: p.230) Overall, there are quite considerable variations in the forms, functions and social roles that moities carry out. Among the most detailed examples of dual organization are those found among the Aboriginal Australians, where the dual organization is generally used to regulate marriages, assign ritual obligations, and classify nature. (BARNARD / SPENCER 1997: p.166) […] Finally, with regard to the dual organization, it should be noted that this can also occur without the division into halves. [...] The moieties can also be broken down into sub-units, such as B. phratie, clan or clan and lineage be structured ” .
↑ See on the small matrilinear Lak people on the island of New Ireland : Steven M. Albert: Lak - Kinship. In: Countries and Their Cultures. Gale Group, USA, 1996, accessed on August 9, 2014 (English, ethnosociological overview; the author wrote his doctoral thesis on the Lak).
^ See on the small matrilineal Nissan people on the island of Nissan : Steven R. Nachman: Nissan - Kinship. In: Countries and Their Cultures. Gale Group, USA, 1996, accessed on August 9, 2014 (English, ethnosociological overview; the author is Professor of Anthropology).
↑ The example given for the family names is taken from: John Lynch: Pacific Languages. An Introduction. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1998, ISBN 978-0-8248-1898-2 , pp. 251-257: Chapter 11.3.1 Language, Society, and Culture in the Pacific Context: Nijamal Kinship Terms (English; page views in Google Book search).

[Rasuly-Paleczek_2011-79-1] Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek: Organization of halves and sections. (PDF; 1.9 MB) In: Introduction to the forms of social organization. Part 2/5, University of Vienna, 2011, pp. 79–80 , archived from the original on October 21, 2013 ; Retrieved on August 9, 2014 : “Society is divided into moieties when the entire society is divided into two halves (moieties) on the basis of a unilinear rule of descent (either patrilinear or matrilinear descent). In general, the moieties are exogamous; H. an individual must always seek his partner from the other half. E.g. a member of Moiety A has to look for his partner from Moiety B and vice versa. “The moieties can be a mere classificatory device by which people are divided into one category or another, or they can be grouped, whereby society is divided into two groups for one or more purposes. The dichotomy can be based on descent or on some other principle (e.g. ›winter and summer‹ people, ›east and west‹ people, ›red and black‹ people.) «(VIVELO 1981: p.230 ) Half-organization exists z. B. with individual North and South American groups as well as with the Australian Aborigines. [...] For societies that have such a division into halves (moieties), the term dual organization or dual system is also used in ethnology. (cf. VIVELO 1981: p.230) Overall, there are quite considerable variations in the forms, functions and social roles that moities carry out. Among the most detailed examples of dual organization are those found among the Aboriginal Australians, where the dual organization is generally used to regulate marriages, assign ritual obligations, and classify nature. (BARNARD / SPENCER 1997: p.166) […] Finally, with regard to the dual organization, it should be noted that this can also occur without the division into halves. [...] The moieties can also be broken down into sub-units, such as B. phratie, clan or clan and lineage be structured ” .

[Albert_1997-Lak-2] See on the small matrilinear Lak people on the island of New Ireland : Steven M. Albert: Lak - Kinship. In: Countries and Their Cultures. Gale Group, USA, 1996, accessed on August 9, 2014 (English, ethnosociological overview; the author wrote his doctoral thesis on the Lak).

[Nachman_1997-Nissan-3] See on the small matrilineal Nissan people on the island of Nissan : Steven R. Nachman: Nissan - Kinship. In: Countries and Their Cultures. Gale Group, USA, 1996, accessed on August 9, 2014 (English, ethnosociological overview; the author is Professor of Anthropology).

[Lynch_1998-4] The example given for the family names is taken from: John Lynch: Pacific Languages. An Introduction. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1998, ISBN 978-0-8248-1898-2 , pp. 251-257: Chapter 11.3.1 Language, Society, and Culture in the Pacific Context: Nijamal Kinship Terms (English; page views in Google Book search).