article
Teknonymy and geononymy in Korean kinship terminology
Ethnology • 12 (1) • Published In 1973 • Pages: 31-46
By: Yi, Kwang-gyu, Harvey, Youngsook Kim.
Abstract
In this article, Lee and Harvey describe the Korean kinship terminology with a focus on the widely-practiced custom of teknonymy and geononymy. Korean kinship terms are based on relative age, sex, generation, and degree of relatedness. The practice of teknonymy reflects the hierarchical order of Korean kinship and the avoidance of personal names as a show of respect. The name of the first child in a household is used as the referent for all household members, i.e., members are addressed as either the grandparent, parent, brother or sister of 'X.' Teknonymy is usually limited to the immediate extended family of three generations. The use of place names in kinship terms, or geononymy, helps unambiguously to identify individuals. For example if there is more than one older brother of the parent of 'X,' then they are distinguished by a place name either associated with a change of residence, or the place where a spouse comes from. Geononymy helps to identify and distinguish households, whereas teknonymy is used to indicate status.
- HRAF PubDate
- 1998
- Region
- Asia
- Sub Region
- East Asia
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Types
- Ethnologist
- Indigenous Person
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard ; 1997
- Field Date
- not specified
- Coverage Date
- not specified
- Coverage Place
- Republic of Korea
- Notes
- Kwang-Kyu Lee, Youngsook Kim Harvey
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-46)
- LCCN
- 64005713
- LCSH
- Koreans