Semantic Parameters in Angas Kinship Terminology

This paper has two purposes: first, to present the facts of the system of kinship terminology of Angas; and second, to propose a formalism for representing such facts within linguistic descriptions. The analysis presented is purely formal, with no discussion of the cultural or func tional expression of the system in behavior. A number of anthropological concepts are found to be useful in the description; of particular note are the principle of reciprocity, and the necessity of carrying out kinship investigations from the point of view of both male and female Ego. It is argued that the proposed formalism is superior to other such systems which have been proposed because of its capacity for ready in tegration into current linguistic theory because of format and rule type. A few concluding remarks are made regarding suggested application of the proposed formalism to matters of semantic change and reconstruction.