OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. 445 



A peculiar feature is found in the fraternal and sororal relationships, the terms 

 for which are still significant. They are conceived in the duplex form of elder and 

 younger, but the terms are in common gender, and require the addition of kJnra 

 and nut to express the sex of the person. The term for elder brother and elder 

 sister is wai, which signifies " predecessor in birth ;" and for younger brother and 

 sister, pu, which signifies " successor in birth." With the connecting particle po, 

 we have for elder brother, w-ai-po-khwa, for elder sister, wai-po-mu, and for younger 

 brother, pu-po-Mwa, and for younger sister, pu-po-mu. The method here used for 

 expressing these relationships is evidently founded upon natural suggestion. A 

 form somewhat analogous obtains in the Hawaiian system. 



In the first collateral line, irrespective of the sex of Ego, I call my brother's son 

 pho-do-khica, and my brother's daughter pho-do-mu, which are rendered nephew and 

 niece by Dr. Mason. The children of this nephew and niece are my grandchildren. 

 In the female branch, my sister's son and daughter are my nephew and niece, the 

 same terms being used as before ; and their children are my grandchildren. It 

 will be observed that the relationships of uncle and aunt are applied to the father's 

 and mother's brothers, and to the father's and mother's sisters, as the correlatives 

 of nephew and niece ; but the term for uncle, phd-te, the literal signification of 

 which is not given, is evidently based upon the radical term pa, father, and in like 

 manner, the term for aunt, rmi-gha, upon that for mother, which is mo. At the 

 same time the terms which are rendered nephew and niece are the same as those 

 for son and daughter (pho-Jehvoa and pho-mu), with the exception of the particle 

 do. The point of the observation is this, that the relationships of uncle and aunt, 

 nephew and niece, in Karen, are but slight variations of the relationships of father 

 and mother, son and daughter, which may have been the previously recognized 

 connections, and which by this variation of the terms they sought to change. If 

 such were in fact the original form, it was identical with the present Malayan form. 

 The etymologies of the terms of consanguinity possess great value for the proper 

 interpretation of systems of relationship, and particularly of their modifications; 

 but unfortunately these are seldom preserved, and when they are, the terms them- 

 selves are usually found to be recent. 



In the second collateral line male, on the father's side, irrespective of the sex of 

 Ego, my father's brother is my uncle, the son and daughter of this uncle are my 

 male and female cousins, ta-kliwa if a male, and ta-khwa-mu, if a female. The 

 presence of this relationship is another remarkable feature of the Karen system. 

 Among the Turanian nations it is only found among the people speaking the Dra- 

 vidian language, and it has also been found among a portion of the Ganowanian 

 family. Mr. Van Meter remarks upon this relationship as follows : " The descend- 

 ants of brothers and sisters are generally designated by the term given in the 

 schedule, viz., f-khwa, cousin ; but the terms brother and sister are occasionally 

 used in speaking of or to each other, the term for elder or younger brother or 

 sister being used according to the relative ages of the persons." This is a very 

 significant suggestion, tending to show a concurrent, and perhaps, originally, an 

 exclusive use of the latter terms. To resume, the sons and daughters of these 



