Yalhuacan Kinship Terms

Kinship Terms in Yalhuacan vary depending on the region and dialect spoken.

In the most basic, widely spoken dialect, kinship terms vary by age, gender and position in the family.

As a young child, siblings would be referred to as Kati for older sibling and Sipo'a for younger sibling. Though it varies greatly by region, once children are seen as being slightly older, their language shifts. With siblings, this means referring to Older Brothers as Kahap, Younger Brothers as Sihap, Younger Sisters as Sinang and Older Sisters as Kanang. These terms were invented when the language was created as a compound of two words. For example, 'kanang' is 'kati-anang', or older sibling - sister. Similar things go for all of these terms, which is why they are so obvious in origin.

Parents would be referred to as Mama and Tata when young, meaning Mom and Dad respectively. At around the age when language around siblings shift, language around parents shifts also. Mama becomes Masal, and Tata becomes Tasal. -sal, in this case, comes from an old Halhi way of showing seniority or respect. When referring to somebodies parents in general, the word used is Šal, meaning parent but also referring to grandparents or any caregivers.

Grandparents are referred to by which side of the family they fall on, with a grandparent on the mothers side referred to as Yome and one of the fathers side as Yote. This comes from a corruption of an early reduplication, that being Momoma and Totota. This became Yomome and Yotote, and eventually Yome and Yote.

In general, though, grandparents are referred to more specifically. On the moms side, Yome would be referred to as Mine for your mom's mom and Tine for your mom's dad. Yote would be referred to as Mot for your dad's mom and Tuet for your dad's dad.

Uncles and Aunts are also referred to similarly to the grandparents, using the side of the family and the gender. The sister of your mom is Manang, the brother of your mom is Mahap, the sister of your dad is Tanang, and the brother of your dad is Tahap. General terms, usually used by younger children, refer to all uncles/aunts as Tuma, with a more formal version of Tuma being Tumasal. When it is necessary to differentiate, first, second or third can be used based on when the relative in question was born.

In general, cousins are referred to by which sibling's child they are. Whatever applicable term for the uncle/aunt would be applied with the ending 'Pana' meaning child, but often corrupted to 'Pen' or 'N' or 'An'. The terms is also often shortened. This makes the temrs Manàn, Mapen, Tanàn, Tapen. These are, respectively, your mom's sister's child, mom's brother's child, dad's sister's child, or dad's brothers child. In families with smaller amounts of cousins and the like, often the word Alat is used. This word is very multipurpose and can mean cousin, niece, nephew, or otherwise a member of the family.

Nieces and Nephews are referred to based on if they are the child of your brother or of your sister, and age of the sibling. This makes four terms for Nieces or Nephews: Kapen, Sapen, Sàn, Kàn. Kapen is your older brother's child, Sapen is your younger brother's child, Sàn is your younger sister's child and Kàn is your older sister's child. Again, Alat is often used when there is less need to clarify.

When referring to children, the terms used are usually Kuhe for Son and Nahe for Daughter. When referring to children in general, which can also refer to your children/kids, the term Soxita is used. Soxita is a way of saying kids or children without specifically designating yourself as the parent, but it often does.

Grandchildren are referred to as Sutlat, from old Halhi -nat meaning little, and the old word for Soxita, Šustala. If referring to your daughter's children, the term would be Nànat. Your son's children would be Kùnat. Terms going into more detail did not catch on because Sutlat is such a catch-all term and specificity beyond this is just achieved with names, for the most part, or referring to the gender of the child with the word for 'son' or 'daughter' (Kuhe Nànat being your daughter's son, or Nahe Kùnat being your son's daughter.)

Great Grandchildren are referred to almost only with the term Apesutlat, ape being the old suffix for 'old.' Apenànat and Apekùnat are very occasionally used.

Great Grandparents also use the suffix Ape, with terms like Apeyote, Apeyome and sometimes terms like Apemine or Apetuet.

In terms of non-blood relatives, your spouse can usually be referred to as Cane for Husband and Tunace for Wife, with the general term for either being Tokma.

The spouses of your siblings are referred to as either Tulco for Sister's Husband or Kalpim for Brother's Wife. If necessary, position within the family is delineated with first, second, or third. This refers to when the couple got married, first being the first married and third being the most recently married. Any other marriages/relationships or marriages with people of other genders are referred to as Upèn.

Step-siblings are referred to with the suffix -Patu at the end, from Old Namayal 'Varthui' meaning 'Other'. This suffix is used for step-parents, step-grandparents, or other family members who are associated with a certain role but may technically fall outside of it.