The Timucua corpus contains many words to describe family relations. Some of these are specific, like pacanoqua, or a child born between others, others note change over time, like yachema, which refers to a mother whose daughter has reached puberty. Most of these terms appear only a few times in the Timucua corpus and we do not have many examples of them in everyday use. Nonetheless, the diversity and variety of these terms speaks to the importance Timucua people placed on these relations.
Here is a list of the more frequent terms:
| relative | anomale |
| mother | iso, iquini* |
| father | iti, ite |
| child (said by a woman) | ule |
| child (said by a man) | qie |
| daughter | ahono nia |
| son | ahono viro |
| brother | poy |
| sister (of a woman) brother (of a man) | anti, amiti |
| sister-in-law (of a woman) | quisa |
| young sibling | amita, chiri** |
| elder sibling | hiosa, niha |
| sibling (used only after the death of parents) | piliqua |
| uncle | ama |
| uncle (on mother’s side) | ifale, bene |
| aunt | ifale |
| niece/nephew (said by a man) | coni |
| niece/nephew (said by a woman) | ebo |
| grandmother | isayache, nibira |
| great grandmother | nibirayache, isayache |
| great-great-grandmother | nibiriyachemulu |
| great-grandfather | itoranaribua, coesa itori |
| grandfather | itora/i,*** ite animiso |
| great-grandfather | itoraribua, coesa itori |
| great-great-grandfather | itoramulu |
| spouse | inihi |
| lineage/clan | haso |
* iquini also means breast milk.
** chiri also means small.
*** itori also means alligator.
Cathecismo, en lengua Castellana, y Timuquana (1612)
http://dcmny.org/islandora/object/nyhs%3A2261#page/108/mode/2up
Relations
These relationship terms always tend to appear, well, in relation. Meaning, rather than simply saying ite (father) or iso (mother) in the abstract, most Timucua texts tend to add personal suffixes to these terms, saying instead itina (my father) or isaye (your mother). Though it might seem like a minor point, these suffixes emphasize connections and give some insight into how Timucuas thought about these terms.
These connections can be seen on the pages of the Catechism that describe Timucua family terms.
Ytorina or my grandfather
Ytoraye or your grandfather
Ytorimima or their grandfather
Ytorimile or ytori nica our grandfather
Ytorayaqe or y’all’s grandfather
Exercise
Find and highlight the kinship terms in the following sentences:
Qiena cachunamosi acola.
My child (said by a man) is very lovely.
Answer: qie
Itaye ycasinibicho?
Have you ever quarreled with your father?
Answer: ita
Chitaco itimi ysomi quentela?
Who are his parents?
Answer: iti & yso
Yteye ysaye nabosohache!
Honor your mother and father.
Answer: yte and ysa
Poyna miso.
My older brother.
Answer: poy
Amitanaqe.
Y’all’s younger sibling.
Answer: Amita
Ulena chihibasoheti.
My son (said by a woman) may not marry you.
Answer: ule
For more information on family terms, see Terms of Relationship in Timucua by John Reed Swanton (1916)