There did not seem to be any brief term for the sister of a wife, and a man would speak of her as en kotvai akkan if older, or as en kotvai nòdrved if younger than the wife.
Sometimes the Todas add to some of the kinship names [[490]]the word potch, which is said to have the meanings “begetting” or “begotten.” I met with this especially in the lamentations used at funerals. A man would say, “en potch aia”—“O my father which begot me”; “en potch anna”—“O my elder brother begotten with me.” For a younger brother, however, this word would not be used; a man would not say, “en potch nòdrved ia,” because ved has the same significance as potch, nòdrved meaning also “born with” or “begotten with.”
Every male of a man’s own clan is either his pian; his in; his an, egal, or nòdrved; his mokh, or his mokh pedvai mokh. In most cases a clan consists of several families, and these families may be unrelated to one another so far as the evidence from the genealogical record goes. Nevertheless, every Toda knows exactly the proper kinship terms to apply to all the members of his clan. I inquired in detail into the basis of this knowledge in the case of the Taradrol, consisting of six pòlm or divisions. All the members of each pòlm trace their descent from a man whose name is known, and the pedigrees of the six pòlm are given in the genealogical tables 20 to 25.
It was known that three of these pòlm were closely related to one another, and that the other three were also closely related. The following table expresses the relationship in the first case:—
| | | ||
| | | | | | |
| ♂ | ♂ | TEITHI |
| | | | | | |
| NASIDZ | PERATUTHI | (See 20) |
| | | | | |
| (See 22) | (See 21) |
It was not perfectly certain whether Teithi and the two men whose names were not remembered were own brothers, but it was known that they were closely related and of the same generation. They were certainly clan-brothers and possibly own brothers. The kinship names applied by members of the three pòlm to one another were all in accordance with this scheme; thus, there was no one living in these three pòlm whom Siriar (20) called aia; he would have given this name to Nasidz or Peratuthi if they had been [[491]]alive. He calls Arthothi and Parkeidi anna; they are the sons of Peratuthi, who was of the same generation as Siriar’s father. The following are called mokh or ena:—Püldenir, Keinodz, Idrshkwòdr (21), Polgar, Pundu, Keinmuv, and Pushtikudr (22), although at least one of these men is older than Siriar, and several others are approximately of the same age. Similarly, Muners (21) is the mokh pedvai mokh, or grandson of Siriar.
The other three pòlm of the Taradr clan are known to be related in a similar way: Kiusthvan (23), Pachievan (24), and Pungut (25) being either own brothers or men closely related and of the same generation. I was thus able to ascertain definitely how each member of the first three pòlm knew the appropriate name to be given to members of these families, and similarly how members of the other three pòlm knew the exact terms of kinship to apply to one another.
Each member of the first three pòlm also knew, however, the proper kinship terms to apply to members of the other three pòlm, although I could not obtain, and there seemed to be no record of, the way in which the two groups of families were connected. Thus Siriar addresses as aia Paners and his brothers (23) and Irkiolv (24). He addresses as anna: Teitukhen, Idjkudr and Kandu (23), Tòleidi, Nertiners, Mogai, Teimad and Orguln (24), and Kudeners and his brother (25). The children of these men are the mokh of Siriar, and are addressed by him as ena.
The explanation seems to be that the mode of relationship is handed down from generation to generation; thus Teithi, the grandfather of Siriar, called Kiusthvan (23) brother, and in consequence Ircheidi and Paners, their sons, also call one another brother, and so Siriar, the son of Ircheidi, knows that he has to call Paners father. In this way a man would know the correct term to apply to every member of his clan, though the links by which their pedigrees are connected may have been completely forgotten.
I also worked out the relationship of the different divisions of the Kuudr clan in the same way, and may perhaps give the record briefly. [[492]]