Kinship terms in Nkep (East Santo)

Abstract

This paper reviews the kinship terms (possessive nouns and vocatives) which were elicited during a series of lexicography meetings in Hog Harbour held in 2018-2019. It focuses primarily on the core kinship terms that occur with direct possession morphology but notes some indirectly possessed common noun kinship terms. Some kinship terms are being replaced by Bislama terms in everyday usage. After outlining the kinship system and documenting the traditional terms, the paper comments on the socialisation processes by which children acquire these terms and the changing denotation of kinship terms under the influence of social change, e.g. legislation specifying workers’ bereavement leave entitlements for different classes of relatives.