English Kin Terms

1. The system is bilateral (no distinctions between father's and mother's relatives).
2. Distinctions mark differences in sex, generation, and collateral kinship distance.
3. Each nuclear family relationship receives a distinct term; more distant relatives are grouped into general categories

English Kin Terms

Note that nuclear family terms - mother, father, brother, sister, son, and daughter apply to only one kin type - but that terms applied to extended kin - uncle, aunt and cousin - are use to form more comprehensive categories in a process called collateral merging.

The significance of kinship distance within English terminology can be represented spatially as a set of concentric circles, radiating out from Ego.