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October 28, 2005
Vishy's Indian English Dictionary: cousin brother, cousin sister
cousin sister,/KUH·zin·sis·tuhr/,cousin brother/KUH·zin·bruh·thuhr/. Respectively, female or male child of your parents' siblings. Known in the West as first cousins, without any further gender qualification. Indian kinship terms are exceedingly elaborate, with single words for concepts that take many words to express in English. Cousin brother is most likely a direct translation of the Hindi chachera/mamera bhai, where the second word translates to brother. The first word denotes how their parent is related to you. Chachera is derived from chacha, which means father's younger brother. Mamera is derived from mama, which means mother's brother (no word on older or younger).
In most Indian extended families, there are separate words to mark the birth-order of same-sex siblings of one's parents. In other words, there would be separate words for one's mother's older and younger sisters or one's father's older and younger brothers. However, there are no separate words to mark the birth order of opposite-sex siblings of one's parents. In other words, the same words are used to refer to older and younger sisters of one's father or older and younger brothers of one's mother. This distinction might be due to remnants of ancient familial structures, where same-sex siblings of one's parents were accorded a status very close to one's parents -- almost surrogate parents (consider that extended families in ancient India often lived under the same roof). Same-sex siblings of one's parents would often be able to substitute for one's parents' caregiving duties. In contrast, opposite sex siblings would often end up in separate households after marriage and wouldn't be able to care for each other's siblings as effortlessly. Accordingly, cousins whose parents are same-sex siblings are considered to be related almost as closely as though they were direct siblings. Cousins whose parents are opposite-sex siblings are considered more distant than cousins whose parents are same-sex siblings. Consequently, it is easier for cousins related through opposite-sex siblings to marry than cousins related through same-sex siblings. Cousin marriages are not necessarily the norm in India, but are not nearly as taboo as they are in the United States.
Posted by Vishy at October 28, 2005 11:35 PM