The Animal Names of the Arab Ancestors : : Explaining the Non-human Names of Arab Kinship Groups, Volume 2-2 Appendices / / William C. Young.

• Superior document: Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East ; 178.2-2
• VerfasserIn: Young, William C.,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2024.; ©2024
• Year of Publication: 2024
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East ; 178.2-2.; Middle East and Islamic Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2024.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (890 pages)

In the Arab world, people belong to kinship groups (lineages and tribes). Many lineages are named after animals, birds, and plants. Why? This survey evaluates five old explanations - "totemism," "emulation of predatory animals," "ancestor eponymy," "nicknaming," and "Bedouin proximity to nature." It suggests a new hypothesis: Bedouin tribes use animal names to obscure their internal cleavages. Such tribes wax and wane as they attract and lose allies and clients; they include "attached" elements as well as actual kin. To prevent outsiders from spotting "attached" groups, Bedouin tribes scatter non-human names across their segments, making it difficult to link any segment with a human ancestor. Young's argument contributes to theories of tribal organization, Arab identity, onomastics, and Near Eastern kinship.

Table of Contents

Appendix K: List of Kinship Groups Named after Birds -- Appendix L: List of Kinship Groups Named After Mammals -- Appendix M: List of Kinship Groups Named after Plants -- Appendix N: List of Kinship Groups Named after Insects, Spiders, and Scorpions -- Appendix O: List of Kinship Groups Named after Reptiles and Amphibians -- Appendix P: List of Kinship Groups Named after Types of Marine Life -- Appendix Q: Ancestor Eponymy: Kinship Group Names Derived from Biological Terms That Are Also Used as Personal Names -- Appendix R: List of Nicknames Derived from Terms for Natural Species Found in the Onomasticon Arabicum -- Appendix S: Non-genealogical Names of Tribes, Sub-tribes, and Clans in Nineteenth-Century Palestine -- Appendix T: List of Sedentary Kinship Groups Named after Natural Species in Northern Jordan.