A comparative reconstruction of Proto-Tupi-Guarani kinship terminology

Abstract

This paper proposes a reconstruction of the kinship terminology system of Proto-Tupi-Guarani (PTG). The focus of the contribution lies in presenting a solid core of cognate sets and argumentation for the reconstruction of formal and semantic aspects for each relevant etymon. The etymologies are preceded by a review of our current understanding of PTG kinship terms and by a selective overview of those aspects of PTG structure that will play out more importantly in the proposed etyma. Finally, we end by considering a few open issues in the reconstruction of the PTG kinship system, many of which are raised here for the first time, and by addressing its characteristics in relation to traditional typologies of these terminology systems.

Keywords

• Tupi-Guarani
• Kinship terminology
• Etymology
• Reconstruction