kinship terms

In SEMANTICS, the system of LEXICAL ITEMS used in a LANGUAGE to express personal relationships within the family, in both narrow and extended senses. The FORMAL analysis of such terminology is often carried on using COMPONENTIAL analysis. The topic has attracted particular interest among linguists because of the way languages make different lexical distinctions within what is a clearly defined biological domain. Unlike English, other languages may have separate lexical items for male and female cousins, or for maternal and paternal aunts, or there may be no lexical contrast between brothers and cousins, or between father and uncles.