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The Animal Names of the Arab Ancestors
Explaining the Non-human Names of Arab Kinship Groups, Volume 1
Series: - Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East, Volume: 178.1
- The Animal Names of the Arab Ancestors, Volume: 178.1
Author:
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 â âtotemism,â âemulation of predatory animals,â âancestor eponymy,â ânicknaming,â and âBedouin proximity to nature.â 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 âattachedâ elements as well as actual kin. To prevent outsiders from spotting âattachedâ groups, Bedouin tribes scatter non-human names across their segments, making it difficult to link any segment with a human ancestor. Youngâs argument contributes to theories of tribal organization, Arab identity, onomastics, and Near Eastern kinship.
William C. Young, Ph.D. (1988), Associate Professor of Anthropology (retired), has published an ethnography of the RaÅ¡Äyidah Bedouin of Sudan (Harcourt Brace, 1996) and many articles about Arab cultural traditions (hospitality, Bedouin society, and ritual).
"This is an extraordinary labor of effort and love for a subject long abandoned within anthropology, namely the early fascination with the concept of âtotemism.â This book is not a defense of the idea of totemism as it has evolved well over a century, but offers alternative explanations for the use of animal names for people and groups. It is obvious that the use of terms for animals and plants has widespread relevance in kinship terminology worldwide. This is especially the case for the history of Arabic kinship names for both individuals and tribal groups." - Daniel Martin Varisco, Ãsterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften , Kinship, 4(2), 2024.
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations
Volume 1
1 Explaining the Non-human Names of Arab Kinship Groups
â1âThe Puzzle: Why Use Terms for Non-human Species as Names for People and Groups?
â2âThe Importance of Kinship Group Names and the Mundane Elements of Culture
â3âThe Distinctiveness of Arab Names for Kinship Groups in Comparative Perspective
â4âA Traditional Explanation of Kinship Group Names: The âPredatory Animalsâ Hypothesis
â5âExceptions to the âPredatory Animalsâ Hypothesis: Why Use the Names of Vermin and Other Valueless Species as Personal and Tribal Names?
â6âRobertson Smithâs Solution: âTotemismâ
â7âComparing the Arab Case with More Elaborated Cases of âTotemismâ
â8âThe Lingering Traces of âTotemismâ in Scholarship about the Middle East
â9âEvaluating Nöldekeâs Explanations: The Inadequacy of the Anecdotal Approach
â10âTesting Nöldekeâs Explanations of Why Animal Names Are Given to Groups
â11âA New Explanation: âObscuring Internal Cleavagesâ
â12âDeriving Testable Hypotheses from the âObscuring Internal Cleavagesâ Explanation
â13âThe Broader Context: The Meanings of Arab Tribal Names
â14âHow to Read the Remaining Chapters in This Book
2 Compiling a Data Base of Arab Kinship Groups Named after Natural Species
â1âThe Starting Point: Finding a Suitable List of Arab Kinship Groups
â2âThe Difficulties of Translation
â3âThe Process of Comparing Terms for Natural Species with Kinship Group Names
3 Methods for Compiling a List of Arabic Terms for Birds
â1âTheoretical Background: Anthropological Research on Folk Taxonomies and the Definition of Arabic Bird Terms
â2âObstacles That Complicate the Comparison of Bird Terms with Kinship Group Names
4 Finding and Translating Arabic Terms for Mammals
â1âThe Difficulty of Defining Non-taxonomic Terms for Mammals in Modern Standard Arabic
â2âThe Impact of Classical and Early Islamic Scholarship on Arabic Biological Terminology
â3âAn Alternative to Standard Dictionaries: Local Tradition
â4âThe Utility and Limits to the Usefulness of Local Tradition for Defining Animal Terms in Arabic
â5âAn Artificial Hierarchy of Arabic Animal Terms
â6âAdditional Terms for Mammals below the Species Level of Classification
â7âProblems in Comparing Terms for Mammals with Kinship Group Names
5 Arabic Terms for Plants, Insects, Reptiles, and Marine Life
â1âProblems in Collecting Terms for Plants
â2âTerms for Insects and Spiders, Reptiles and Amphibians, and Marine Life
6 Evaluating Existing Explanations in Light of Empirical Evidence
â1âThe âPredatory Animalsâ Hypothesis
â2âTesting the âAncestor Eponymyâ Hypothesis: Comparing the Personal Names of Ancestors with the Collective Names of Kinship Groups
â3ââNickname Eponymyâ as an Explanation of Group Names Derived from Terms for Natural Species
â4âThe âNaturalisticâ Explanation
7 Group Names, Bedouin Social Organization, and the Flow of Information
â1âTwo Ideal Types of Social Organization in the Arab World: The Bedouin Tribe and the Sedentary Tribe
â2âSedentary Tribes That Have Bedouin Features
â3âConflict Resolution and Bedouin Control Over Genealogical Information
â4âThe Bedouin Tribe as a Stratified Collection of Peripheral Groups around a Core of Kin
â5âEconomic Inequality and Political Stratification in Bedouin Tribes
â6âGeography and Political Stratification in Bedouin Tribes
â7âThe Attachment of Foreign Elements to the Bedouin Tribe
â8âThe Cultural Dimension: Native Representations of Attachment to the Tribe
â9âUsing Non-human Names for Kinship Groups as âEmpty Ciphersâ that Conceal Foreign Origins
8 Tests of the New Explanation
â1âThe Heterogeneous Composition of Bedouin Tribes
â2âTest Number One: A Search for a Correlation between Variation in Tribal Heterogeneity and Variation in the Names Chosen for Kinship Groups
â3âA Second Test of the âObscuring Internal Cleavagesâ Hypothesis: Comparing Bedouin with Non-Bedouin
9 Conclusions: Varying Levels of Support for Five Hypotheses
â1âThe Goals of the Analysis
â2âThe Goals of This Book
â3âTopics for Future Research
References
Index
Volume 2/1
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations
Appendix A: List of Taxonomic Bird Terms in Arabic
Appendix B: List of Non-taxonomic Bird Terms in Arabic
Appendix C: Comparison of Standard Arabic Bird Terminology with Two Sets of Colloquial Arabic Terms (after Zalat and Gilbert 2008: 164â197 and Hobbs 1989: 129â133)
Appendix D: List of Taxonomic Terms for Mammals in Arabic
Appendix E: List of Non-taxonomic Terms for Mammals in Arabic
Appendix F: List of Taxonomic Plant Terms in Arabic
Appendix G: List of Non-taxonomic Plant Terms in Arabic
Appendix H: List of Terms for Insects, Spiders, and Scorpions in Arabic
Appendix I: List of Terms for Reptiles and Amphibians in Arabic
Appendix J: List of Terms for Marine Life (Fish, Sharks, Corrals, Etc.) in Arabic
Volume 2/2
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
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations
Volume 1
1 Explaining the Non-human Names of Arab Kinship Groups
â1âThe Puzzle: Why Use Terms for Non-human Species as Names for People and Groups?
â2âThe Importance of Kinship Group Names and the Mundane Elements of Culture
â3âThe Distinctiveness of Arab Names for Kinship Groups in Comparative Perspective
â4âA Traditional Explanation of Kinship Group Names: The âPredatory Animalsâ Hypothesis
â5âExceptions to the âPredatory Animalsâ Hypothesis: Why Use the Names of Vermin and Other Valueless Species as Personal and Tribal Names?
â6âRobertson Smithâs Solution: âTotemismâ
â7âComparing the Arab Case with More Elaborated Cases of âTotemismâ
â8âThe Lingering Traces of âTotemismâ in Scholarship about the Middle East
â9âEvaluating Nöldekeâs Explanations: The Inadequacy of the Anecdotal Approach
â10âTesting Nöldekeâs Explanations of Why Animal Names Are Given to Groups
â11âA New Explanation: âObscuring Internal Cleavagesâ
â12âDeriving Testable Hypotheses from the âObscuring Internal Cleavagesâ Explanation
â13âThe Broader Context: The Meanings of Arab Tribal Names
â14âHow to Read the Remaining Chapters in This Book
2 Compiling a Data Base of Arab Kinship Groups Named after Natural Species
â1âThe Starting Point: Finding a Suitable List of Arab Kinship Groups
â2âThe Difficulties of Translation
â3âThe Process of Comparing Terms for Natural Species with Kinship Group Names
3 Methods for Compiling a List of Arabic Terms for Birds
â1âTheoretical Background: Anthropological Research on Folk Taxonomies and the Definition of Arabic Bird Terms
â2âObstacles That Complicate the Comparison of Bird Terms with Kinship Group Names
4 Finding and Translating Arabic Terms for Mammals
â1âThe Difficulty of Defining Non-taxonomic Terms for Mammals in Modern Standard Arabic
â2âThe Impact of Classical and Early Islamic Scholarship on Arabic Biological Terminology
â3âAn Alternative to Standard Dictionaries: Local Tradition
â4âThe Utility and Limits to the Usefulness of Local Tradition for Defining Animal Terms in Arabic
â5âAn Artificial Hierarchy of Arabic Animal Terms
â6âAdditional Terms for Mammals below the Species Level of Classification
â7âProblems in Comparing Terms for Mammals with Kinship Group Names
5 Arabic Terms for Plants, Insects, Reptiles, and Marine Life
â1âProblems in Collecting Terms for Plants
â2âTerms for Insects and Spiders, Reptiles and Amphibians, and Marine Life
6 Evaluating Existing Explanations in Light of Empirical Evidence
â1âThe âPredatory Animalsâ Hypothesis
â2âTesting the âAncestor Eponymyâ Hypothesis: Comparing the Personal Names of Ancestors with the Collective Names of Kinship Groups
â3ââNickname Eponymyâ as an Explanation of Group Names Derived from Terms for Natural Species
â4âThe âNaturalisticâ Explanation
7 Group Names, Bedouin Social Organization, and the Flow of Information
â1âTwo Ideal Types of Social Organization in the Arab World: The Bedouin Tribe and the Sedentary Tribe
â2âSedentary Tribes That Have Bedouin Features
â3âConflict Resolution and Bedouin Control Over Genealogical Information
â4âThe Bedouin Tribe as a Stratified Collection of Peripheral Groups around a Core of Kin
â5âEconomic Inequality and Political Stratification in Bedouin Tribes
â6âGeography and Political Stratification in Bedouin Tribes
â7âThe Attachment of Foreign Elements to the Bedouin Tribe
â8âThe Cultural Dimension: Native Representations of Attachment to the Tribe
â9âUsing Non-human Names for Kinship Groups as âEmpty Ciphersâ that Conceal Foreign Origins
8 Tests of the New Explanation
â1âThe Heterogeneous Composition of Bedouin Tribes
â2âTest Number One: A Search for a Correlation between Variation in Tribal Heterogeneity and Variation in the Names Chosen for Kinship Groups
â3âA Second Test of the âObscuring Internal Cleavagesâ Hypothesis: Comparing Bedouin with Non-Bedouin
9 Conclusions: Varying Levels of Support for Five Hypotheses
â1âThe Goals of the Analysis
â2âThe Goals of This Book
â3âTopics for Future Research
References
Index
Volume 2/1
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations
Appendix A: List of Taxonomic Bird Terms in Arabic
Appendix B: List of Non-taxonomic Bird Terms in Arabic
Appendix C: Comparison of Standard Arabic Bird Terminology with Two Sets of Colloquial Arabic Terms (after Zalat and Gilbert 2008: 164â197 and Hobbs 1989: 129â133)
Appendix D: List of Taxonomic Terms for Mammals in Arabic
Appendix E: List of Non-taxonomic Terms for Mammals in Arabic
Appendix F: List of Taxonomic Plant Terms in Arabic
Appendix G: List of Non-taxonomic Plant Terms in Arabic
Appendix H: List of Terms for Insects, Spiders, and Scorpions in Arabic
Appendix I: List of Terms for Reptiles and Amphibians in Arabic
Appendix J: List of Terms for Marine Life (Fish, Sharks, Corrals, Etc.) in Arabic
Volume 2/2
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
All who are interested in the anthropology of the Middle East, the meanings of Arab names, Bedouin society, Arab kinship, and totemism. Specialists in Semitic onomastics will also enjoy it.