GENERAL WORDS FOR SEX AND KINSHIP 143 



vivial purposes of those forming a community. 1 It 

 represents the kin living in common, having common 

 property, a common house and meals. It is the primitive 

 Koman or Iroquois gens. But the glosses on gamahhida 

 do not stop at kinship ; we find also contubernium, 

 copula, connubium, cubile carnalium, commercium. 

 Thus the word denotes sexual union of all kinds. It is 

 the free sexual intercourse between the mac which goes 

 to form the full conception of gamahhida. This word, 

 like the Latin cohabitatio, denotes not only a living 

 together, but as a sexual union it marks the collegia et 

 connubium cognatorum, the communistic and endo- 

 gamous character of the magenschaft. 



While gamahhida represents the group, the individual 

 members were the gimahide, gimachide, words glossed 

 by conjux, conjugi, i.e. spouses, gimahido is rendered by 

 par, gamahcho by socius, gamahho by conjux, uxor; all 

 indicating equal comradeship and, at the same time, sex- 

 relationship. Further, the adverbs gamahho, gimacho 

 are rendered by Latin glosses signifying ' in common,' 

 commodiously, kindly, fitly, opportunely, and the noun 

 gimahi has glosses affinitas, opportunitas. We have 

 in these words the whole strength of the gamahhida 

 brought out. A kin-marriage group with all property in 

 common, living in common, naturally termed what 

 belonged to the group, easy of access, fit, and convenient, 

 gemahlih (or as it is glossed connixe, " leaning on one 

 another "). What was not of the group wasungamahlih, 



1 It should be noticed how the conception of living together has led to the 

 idea of partaking in feasts together, sharing in festivals, e.g. the Latin convivor 

 and convivium. 



