Page:Next-of-kin Marriages in Old Iran.djvu/60

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IN OLD IRÂN.
45

dulged in by speculative thinkers upon early human ideas and practices, I shall make a few assumptions that naturally strike me, while examining the evidences above-mentioned. The first point to be remarked upon is that great care is required to avoid the confusion arising from the indiscriminate use of the words 'sister,' 'daughter,' 'mother.' Among some Oriental peoples the designation 'sister' is not merely applied to a sister proper or daughter of one's own parents, but, as an affectionate term, also to cousins, near or distant, to sisters-in-law, to female-friends, &c. Likewise, the word for daughter is used to denote, not only one's own daughter, but also the daughter of one's own brother or sister, and generally the daughter of a relative, &c. Similarly, the term 'mother' does not signify the female parent alone, but is employed as a respectful form of address to an elderly lady who enjoys the honour of being the materfamilias of a household. It is also necessary to observe that in Old-Persian or Pahlavi there

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