Note 4.—On Boloki Relations or Kinship
The accompanying lists I received about the same time from two different young men of fair intelligence, and after I had written the two lists down I called both the young men and read over to them their different names for the same relative. They each argued that what they had given was the right one, and the other was wrong. I have found the same difficulty on the Lower Congo. It is impossible to procure a list of any real value. My colleagues find it much the same among other tribes.
The natives of Monsembe are unanimous respecting the terms for mother = nyongo; father = ango and tata (ango is only used by a son to the one who begot him, tata is used by a slave to his master, by a son to his father, and I have heard it used by a mother to her son. It seems to be a term of respect in its wider use); brother = nkaja; sister is also nkaja (a sister calls her brother nkaja, and a brother calls his sister nkaja; but if a girl speaks of her younger sister, or elder sister, she uses the words mojimi for the younger one and motomolo for the elder only; the boy uses the same words for younger or elder brother); younger sister or younger brother, nkaja mojimi; elder sister or elder brother, nkaja motomolo (nkaja is never used in speaking of the same sex as the speaker, i.e. by a sister of a sister, or a brother of a brother); wife = mwali; husband = moloi; child = mwana; male child = mwana lele, i.e. son; female child = mwana muntaka, i.e. daughter; grandparent = nkoko; great grandparent = nkokolele; great great grandparent = ndalola; but a grandchild is nkoko, and so with a great grandchild = nkokolele, and great great grandchild = ndalola.
All agree in the above names for the relationships indicated, but the farther you get away from those degrees of relationship the more confused the native becomes, and the more contradictory will be his statements. The terms of relationship are employed in addressing each other, but personal names are also used without any hesitation. The only exception is this: When two persons of the same name speak to or of one another they never mention the name, but say, ndoi = namesake. The names of the dead are freely mentioned, and even passed on to children. No genealogies are kept, and in two or three generations all ties of near relationship are lost; and if, here and there, remembered, are non-effective except where a man can get a drink of sugar-cane wine, or a feed by recalling kinship.
LIST OF WORDS FOR RELATIVES
| ENGLISH | WORDS GIVEN BY LUTOBA | WORDS GIVEN BY INTONGI |
|---|---|---|
| Mother’s brother | mojika | mojika and nso mama[[44]] |
| Mother’s brother’s son | nso nyango[[45]] | No name, but takes name of mojika on his father’s death |
| Mother’s brother’s son’s son | nso nyango | Called by personal name until death of father and then mojika |
| Mother’s brother’s son’s daughter | nkaja | No distinctive name |
| Mother’s sister | mama | mama moti[[46]] |
| Mother’s sister’s son or daughter | mojimi or nkaja | No distinctive name |
| Mother’s sister’s son’s son | mojimi or nkaja | No distinctive name |
| Mother’s sister’s son’s daughter | mojimi or nkaja | No distinctive name |
| Father’s sister | tamwalimoto | tamwalimoto |
| Father’s sister’s son | bola | mwana wa tamwalimoto[[47]] |
| Father’s sister’s daughter | nkaja | mwana wa tamwalimoto |
| Father’s sister’s son’s son | wa mwa nyango[[48]] | No distinctive name |
| Father’s sister’s son’s daughter | nkaja | No distinctive name |
| Father’s brother | tata | [[49]]ta mungwende, or on his father’s death he is called tata or tata elenge[[50]] |
| Father’s brother’s son | mojimi | No distinctive name |
| Father’s brother’s daughter | nkaja | No distinctive name |
| Father’s brother’s son’s son | mojimi | No distinctive name |
| Father’s brother’s son’s daughter | nkaja | No distinctive name |
| Brother’s child | mwana | mwana |
| Brother’s child’s child | mwana | mwana |
| Grandfather, grandmother, grandchild | nkoko | nkoko |
| Great grandfather, great grandmother, great grandchild | nkokolele | nkokolele |
| Great great grandfather, great great grandmother, great great grandchild | ndalola | ndalola |
[44]. nso mama and
[45]. nso nyango are practically the same, as the second word in each phrase means mother, and nso = bowels; and the idea is: the one who comes from the same womb as my mother; the word nso is only used of maternal relatives.
[46]. mama moti = the little mother.
[47]. mwana wa tamwalimoto = child of tamwalimoto.
[48]. wa mwa nyango = of or from the little mother; mwa is the diminutive particle.
[49]. ta mungwende = one who stands in place of another.
[50]. tata elenge = young or boy father.
Mama is not an introduced word, as we found it in full use on our arrival; and although it was often used about one’s own mother, yet it had the same meaning, as applied to a female relative, mistress, or mother, that tata has to a male relative, master or father.
By “no distinctive name,” I mean no term indicative of relationship. They were known by their personal name only.