Die Terminologie der Verwandtschaft. Zu mittelalterlichen Grundlagen von Wandel und Beharrung im europäischen Vergleich
The Terminology of Kinship. On the medieval foundations of change and continuity in Europe – a comparison

Summary/Abstract: Developmental tendencies in the history of kinship have so far received little attention in historical family research. The present study wants to fill this gap. It departs from the tendencies of change in the kinship terminology which, at an earlier or later point in time, occurred in most European languages, namely: the parallelisation of relatives from the father’s and the mother’s side, of blood relatives and in-laws as well as of blood relatives and “spiritual relatives”. In this process of transformation, the Balkan languages (with the exception of Greek and Romanian) occupy a special place. The same must also be assumed for the social foundations of this transformation process. In southeast Europe, patrilinear structures of kinship have persevered in a particularly strong way, and they continue to affect the structures of family life until today.

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