<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This study aims at analysing the absolute semantic complexity of kin terms in Hausa, i.e. to measure the amount of semantic information of individual kin terms. Each kin term is defined by a set of sufficient and necessary conditions (i.e. properties and relations) derived from the construction of a genealogical “space”. In order to calculate semantic complexity, properties (e.g. <italic>x is male</italic>, <italic>x is older than y</italic>) and relations (e.g. <italic>x is married to y</italic>, <italic>x is father of y</italic>) are encoded as a series of predicates. The terms are defined in a feature matrix system: for each property and relation each kin term is assigned a value on a truth table. Resorting to predicate calculus, the complexity coefficient <italic>c</italic> of kin terms is calculated as the negative dyadic logarithm of the relative number of trues according to the formula proposed by Lehmann (1978) and adapted from Carnap and Bar-Hillel (1952). Being culture-independent, the definition of kinship terms in a feature-matrix system allows for a) cross-linguistic comparison; b) a consistent treatment of polysemous instances based on the principles of intension and extension; and c) further analysis and applications in representations of kinship systems formulated with genealogical or algebraic approaches.</p>
</abstract>

This study aims at analysing the absolute semantic complexity of kin terms in Hausa, i.e. to measure the amount of semantic information of individual kin terms. Each kin term is defined by a set of sufficient and necessary conditions (i.e. properties and relations) derived from the construction of a genealogical “space”. In order to calculate semantic complexity, properties (e.g. x is male, x is older than y) and relations (e.g. x is married to y, x is father of y) are encoded as a series of predicates. The terms are defined in a feature matrix system: for each property and relation each kin term is assigned a value on a truth table. Resorting to predicate calculus, the complexity coefficient c of kin terms is calculated as the negative dyadic logarithm of the relative number of trues according to the formula proposed by Lehmann (1978) and adapted from Carnap and Bar-Hillel (1952). Being culture-independent, the definition of kinship terms in a feature-matrix system allows for a) cross-linguistic comparison; b) a consistent treatment of polysemous instances based on the principles of intension and extension; and c) further analysis and applications in representations of kinship systems formulated with genealogical or algebraic approaches.

The semantic complexity of Hausa kinship terms

Topics in Linguistics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"The semantic complexity of Hausa kinship terms"}

This study aims at analysing the absolute semantic complexity of kin terms in Hausa, i.e. to measure the amount of semantic information of individual kin...

The semantic complexity of Hausa kinship terms

Publié en ligne: 25 déc. 2023

Pages: 15 - 29

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/topling-2023-0009

Mots clés
Hausa, kinship terminology, complexity, predicate calculus, polysemy

© 2023 Gian Claudio Batic, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The semantic complexity of Hausa kinship terms

Publié en ligne: 25 déc. 2023

Pages: 15 - 29

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/topling-2023-0009

Mots clésHausa, kinship terminology, complexity, predicate calculus, polysemy

© 2023 Gian Claudio Batic, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
Hausa, kinship terminology, complexity, predicate calculus, polysemy