The Animal Names of the Arab Ancestors: Explaining the Non-Human Names of Arab Kinship Groups, Volume 2/1: Appendices

In the Arab world, people belong to kinship groups that are named after wolves, birds, and plants. Why these names? Young’s book questions old explanations and suggests a new hypothesis: Bedouin tribes use such names to obscure internal cleavages. "In the Arab world, people belong to kinship groups (lineages andtribes). 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"-- Provided by publisher Contents 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: 164–197 and Hobbs 1989: 129–133) 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