Ndavola (reciprocal form, vei-ndavolani)—The relationship of males and females of the same generation between whom marriage is right, and even obligatory—consequently sister-in-law.
Tavale (reciprocal form, vei-tavaleni)—Male cousins who would be concubitant if one were a female, consequently a man's brother-in-law.
Ndauve (reciprocal form, vei-ndauveni)—Female cousins who would be concubitant if one were a male—consequently a woman's sister-in-law.
Vungo—Nephew, i.e. son of a man's sister or woman's brother, also son-in-law or daughter-in-law, also used reciprocally.
Ngandina—Maternal uncle or father-in-law; vocative form in the case of father-in-law, is ngandi or momo.
Nganeitama—Paternal aunt or mother-in-law; vocative form in the case of mother-in-law, is nganei.
THE CONCUBITANT RELATIONSHIP
Besides these there are compound names for some of the more remote relationships, and names for certain connections, such as karua (i.e. "the second," reciprocal form, vei-karuani), used of wives of a bigamous household, and also of children of the same father by different mothers.
I propose to call the Ngane (reciprocal form, vei-nganeni) tabu, because marriage between them is forbidden. Vei-ndavolani I call "concubitants," because marriage between them is right and proper.
The tabu relationship occurs—
(1) Between the son and daughter of the same parents.
(2) Between children respectively of two brothers or the children respectively of two sisters, such children being male and female.
From a Fijian point of view, in both these cases the relationship is exactly the same. The father's brother and the mother's sister share with the father and the mother an almost equal degree of paternity. Thus a man or a woman, referring
to his or her father's brother calls him Tamanku (my father), and if he is asked Tamamu ndina? (your real father?) he will answer A Tamanku lailai (my little father). The same applies to the mother's sister. The tabu relationship also occurs artificially between the children respectively of concubitants who have broken through the system, and have not married, but to this I will refer in its proper place.
Concubitants.—This relationship occurs between persons whose parents respectively were brother and sister. The opposition of sex in parents not only breaks down the barrier of consanguinity, but even constitutes the child of the one a marital complement of the child of the other. The young Fijian is from his birth regarded as the natural husband of the daughters of his father's sister and of his mother's brother. The girls can exercise no choice. They were born the property of their male concubitant if he desire to take them. Thus the custom, if generally followed, would enclose the blood of each family within itself, and obstruct the influx of a new strain at every third generation. The natural tendency towards the renovation of the blood would be checked, and its stagnation be continued. Thus—