AN APPRAISAL OF FORMAL AND STRUCTURAL KINSHIP ANALYSIS

This paper examines two methods of analysis dealing with relationship terminologies. The work of anthropologists who have studied kinship terminologies is presented and divided into two categories: formal semantic analysis and structural analysis. The first category consists of the contributions of American anthropologists who formally describe the significance of isolated kinship terminologies. The second group consists of the works of several European transformationalists. Both approaches are critically evaluated according to the principles of classification rendered by each kind of analysis.