Kazakh Linguistic Picture of the World and Terms of Kinship

Abstract

The core principle of the Kazakh kinship system is the concept of “Seven Ancestors”,  a genealogic bloodline the knowledge of which was a necessary condition for the nomadic people to perpetuate their generation, preserve their traditions and culture.  Relatives up to seventh generation were considered close relatives and collectively responsible for each other.According to the Doctrine of the Genealogical Unity of Mankind the genealogical grid is universal and shared by all cultures(Dwight W Read:84). This implies that the space of genealogic reckoning is common for the whole mankind on the planet. But every culture is selective about labeling the sets of kin types by distinguishing them terminologically.  Theoretically, any language is capable of creating an unlimited number of words, so that all kinship types could be terminologically identified but no language does this.Only those kin types were distinguished terminologically which society preferred as significant.Kin terms, in their turn, carry the cultural load about categorization of kin categories.They are culturally specific and convey cultural concepts.  It is impossible to thoroughly investigate the Kazakh terminology of kinship in separation from Kazakh mentality and cultural traditions. Kazakh kinship terminology nomenclature is deeply embedded in social life and this givesgrounds to state that they are socially determined and relevant. The survey conducted among 17-18 aged young people suggested that the kinship traditions are still strong in the Kazakh society and gives hope that they will persist for longer times in the future across generations thus promoting survival and reproductive prospects of descendants.