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on the fundamental consanguineal numbers and their structural basis 1
Author(s) -
ATKINS JOHN R.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1974.1.1.02a00010
Subject(s) - concatenation (mathematics) , explication , mathematics , algebraic number , basis (linear algebra) , representation (politics) , exponent , computer science , discrete mathematics , algebra over a field , pure mathematics , combinatorics , epistemology , linguistics , mathematical analysis , philosophy , geometry , politics , political science , law
A rigorously grounded symbolic representation of the general consanguineal relation (a) yields succinct definitions for a number of historically important quantitative measures of consanguinity and (b) facilitates an examination of the algebraic relationships among these measures. Several formal devices—including standardized exponent variables, zero power factors, and a new concatenation operator called the “geneaproduct”—are introduced for their anticipated general usefulness in kinship analysis as well as for their specific utility in the explication of consanguineal numbers.