36 SYSTEMS OF CONSANGUINITY AND AFFINITY 



several relationships were made definite, when necessary, by a description of the 

 persons. 



In the first collateral line, male, the following is the series : BrotJier, nepliew, 

 and nephew, which is the popular form ; and brotJier, brother's son, and brother's 

 grand-child, which is the formal method. The second collateral runs as follows : 

 Uncle, nephew, and nephew ; or formally uncle, uncle's son, and uncle's grand-child. 

 The novel feature here revealed of holding grandson, nephew, and cousin in the 

 same identical relationship still records the first act in the progress of the Aryan 

 system from a purely descriptive form. 



4. Belgian. The Belgian system of consanguinity is closely allied to the pre- 

 ceding. It has the same defects and nearly the same peculiarities. Neve and 

 nichte are applied to the children of the brothers and sisters of Ego ; but not to his 

 grand-children. Nichte is also applied to a female cousin and it is probable that 

 neve was used to designate a male cousin prior to the adoption of Icozyn into the 

 Belgian dialect. Where terms are found in a dialect cognate with our own, 

 which are employed in a manner not sanctioned by our usage, it does not follow 

 that it is either a vague or improper use of the term ; but it shows, on the con- 

 trary, that the several relationships to which a particular term is applied are not 

 discriminated from each other ; and they are regarded as one and the same rela- 

 tionship. In the primitive system of the Aryan family the relationship of cousin 

 was unknown. 



5. Westphalian or Platt Dutch. The schedule in the table presents the common 

 form of the people. In the absence of special terms for nephew and niece the first 

 collateral line is described, e. g., brother, brother's son, and brother's grand-child. 

 The second collateral gives the following series : Uncle, cousin, cousin's son, and 

 cousin's grand-child. Nichte still remains in the Westphalian dialect; but it is 

 restricted to female cousin. In the third collateral the series is still more irregular 

 from the absence of a term for great-uncle, e. g., father's uncle, father's cousin, 

 and father's cousin's son. This is simply a modification of the old descriptive 

 method by the use of secondary terms. 



6. Danish and Norwegian. The system of these nations is entirely free from 

 Roman influence, from which we have been gradually receding, and is, therefore, 

 presumptively nearer the primitive form of the Aryan family. The presence of 

 German influence, however, is seen in the use of the term fatter, cousin, which 

 introduces into the system the only feature that distinguishes it from the Celtic. 



With the exception of the term last named there are no terms of relationship in 

 this dialect but the primary. For uncle and aunt on the father's side it has far- 

 broder and faster ; and on the mother's side morbroder and moster, which it will 

 be noticed are contractions of the terms father, mother, brother, and sister, and, 

 therefore, describe each person specifically. In the cities the borrowed terms onkel 

 and tante are employed to a great extent, as they are in all German cities ; but the 



application to one would render it inapplicable to the other. It follows that nepos did not originally 

 signify either a nephew, grandson, or cousin, but that it was used promiscuously to designate a class 

 of persons next without the primary relationships. 



