Final answer:
Kinship is a cultural construction that varies between societies and includes biological, affinal, and fictive ties. It encompasses different systems such as lineal and bifurcate merging kinship. Parallel cousins are from a parent's same-gender sibling, while cross cousins are from a parent's opposite-gender sibling.
Step-by-step explanation:
Kinship is an essential aspect of social structure and is considered a sociocultural construction that is defined differently across cultures. It determines social relationships within a community, such as who can marry whom, how families are formed, and the distribution of resources. In anthropology, kinship is not solely based on biological relationships but includes cultural definitions and affinal ties as well.
Different cultures calculate kinship in various ways, including lineal kinship, bifurcate merging kinship, and generational kinship. These systems use a combination of descriptive and classificatory terms to define relationships. For example, descriptive terms would specifically refer to a relation as "mother's sister's son," while classificatory terms might group various kin under a single label like "cousin."
Parallel cousins are the children of a person's parents' same-gender siblings (e.g., father's brother's children or mother's sister's children). In contrast, cross cousins are the children of a person's parents' opposite-gender siblings (e.g., father's sister's children or mother's brother's children). These difinations help dictate potential marriage partners in some cultures and play a crucial role in the perpetuation of kinship lines and alliances.
Distinctions between biological types and kin terms can be seen in the use of terms of reference and terms of address, which reveal the formal and informal aspects of relationships as well as culturally specific nuances in family structures. For example, the term "uncle" might be a term of reference used for a father's brother in one culture, while also being used as a term of address for an older male family friend in another, emphasizing the role fictive kin play.