The modern Lithuanian kinship system: a descriptive analysis of generational differences in reckoning the saliency of kin terms

Abstract

Lists of kin terms were elicited from four different generational-status samples: children, young adults, parents, and grandparents. Lists were compared in terms of frequency counts of terms and their respective saliencies. Saliency was measured using Smith’s S, which combines frequency and the rank of terms in a list. Using primarily saliency, we are able to synthesize genealogical and cultural theories for analysing kinship. Genealogy was found to be an important variable, but variations across generations could only be accounted for by relying on cultural factors.