What is it about?
The Arabs use terms for wild and domesticated animals as names for their kinship groups. The Russians and the English also use animal terms to name their households and families, but in the Arab case such names are given to even larger groups: lineages, clans, and tribes. To explain this distinctive Arab practice, an argument that fits the specifics of the Arab case is needed. One early argument was that the "primitive" Arabs were like other "primitive" peoples and believed that their early ancestors were animals. To honor these "totemic" ancestors, the Arabs worshiped them and made biological terms -- Dog, Eagle, Otter -- into personal and group names. There is no historical evidence for this fanciful idea, and anthropologists have debunked the concept of "totemism." Five other explanations are more persuasive but need to be tested against the empirical facts. What biological terms, exactly, have been selected as names, and how many groups use them?
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Why is it important?
This book is part of the core project of cultural anthropology: to describe without prejudice each society's cultural heritage and then explain why it differs from the heritage of other societies. The Arabs' distinctive names are well-documented but have not been clearly understood or explained. By explaining the characteristics of Arab kinship group names, we come closer to understanding names in all human societies.
Perspectives
When I lived in Sudan and Jordan, I heard the names of many kinship groups and families. I met people who belonged to these kinship groups and used their names when talking about them, yet I rarely asked what their names meant. It was only later that I realized that some of these names referred to natural species. By exploring the meanings of the names now, I have acquired a better understanding of how Arab group identities are constructed. This has pushed me to think more deeply about family identities and names in my own society.
William Charles Young
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This page is a summary of: Explaining the Non-human Names of Arab Kinship Groups, January 2024, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004690370_002.
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