T'in - Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. The descent system is bilateral. There are no lineages, clans, or other social institutions based on kinship apart from the family and household. The spirits of the last two generations are honored.

Kinship Terminology. Kinship terms stress relative age, reflecting its importance in determining status relations. Differences between patrilateral and matrilateral, lineal and collateral, and consanguineous and affinal relatives are expressed. Distant relatives of a person's own generation are often called elder or younger brother or sister; thus one's kinship group may include most members of a village community. The T'in have adopted Thai personal names and surnames; often a whole village shares the same surname.