Samal Moro - Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. Kin-based groups are readily identifiable as households ( magtoteyanak, dambua'luna, dapaningan ) ranging in composition from nuclear to four-generational extended families. The nuclear family, mataan, is distinguished clearly from the household unit. A group of kin-related households, located in the common residential land, form neighborhoods or work teams. Two or more of these localized kindred groups constitute the village ( kaum ), the unit of worship. Descent is bilateral, tempered by status.

Kinship Terminology. The traditional distinction between nobility ( datus ) and commoners is reflected in the separate sets of address terminology employed within each group. Both use Eskimo cousin terms, but whereas commoners use lineal terms for the first ascendant generation, the nobility employs generational terms. As a result, mixed marriages produce semblances of bifurcate merging and bifurcate collaterality depending on the respective status of the spouses. Kin terms also reflect the significance attributed to relative age.