Kinship is a sacred affair, but sometimes we don’t even guess what to name one or another member of the family. With proximity by blood, in principle, there is more clarity. Who are grandparents, father-mother, son-daughter and brothers with sisters - we will not get confused. What next?
Who will you be?
Let's deal with the various categories of kinship in order to know exactly who belongs to whom. For example, the wife’s brother is called a brother-in-law among Russian-speaking and other Slavic peoples. Plural - brother-in-law (shurya). This is the correct literary norm, fixed in dictionaries and encyclopedias. It goes back, according to some sources, to the ancient Indian roots, according to others - to the ancient Greek. Sometimes you can hear another form of how the wife’s brother is called - “schwager”. It exists in many East Slavic dialects. In local dialects and surzhik there are words such as "shuraga", "shurak", "shuryak". Of course, they have no relation to the literary form. And in the bulk of the people, the wife’s brother is called that way, without any “brother-in-law”. However, the terminology does not affect the relationship. History and literature give a lot of examples when men from the families of husband and
wife became real friends and family not by blood, but by spirit, which is sometimes much stronger! Along the way, an interesting question. As the wife’s brother is called for the rest of the relatives - clearly. But who for the brother-in-law is the husband of his sister? The answer is simple: son in law! Yes, as well as for the parents of their half. If the wife does not have a brother, but she has a sister - who is she for the husband's relatives? Sister-in-law. What about her husband? It’s even simpler: he’s brother-in-law.
Continue the study
Clarification needed: brother-in-law is the wife’s brother. The word is included in the concept of "close kinship." The term “daughter-in-law" is considered more ambiguous. This is not only the
wife of the son for his parents, but also for all other family members - his sisters, brothers and their spouses. Therefore, if you have a brother and he is not single, then the wife of the husband’s brother is also called a daughter-in-law for you, as well as for your father and mother. At first glance, everything is very complicated. But if you try as you should, you can remember! Further. Does your husband have a sister? Then call her sister-in-law - that’s how it will be right. Native or cousin - this is not particularly important, the word is used in both cases. The interpretation of the usual “uncle” and “aunt” is also interesting. On the one hand, uncle is your mother’s brother, aunt is her sister. First of all, relatives. But uncle is for you - and your aunt’s husband. Just like your aunt, the wife of your own uncle. I recall one more unusual word - brother-in-law. They should
call the husband’s
brother to all relatives of the opposite side.
Matchmakers and matchmakers
Some confusion arises in connection with the use and interpretation of the words “matchmaker” and “matchmaker”. Matchmaker - a woman who helps x
sweet people to find their halves. This profession or art, calling is hard to say. In the broadest way, it was widespread and in demand in past centuries.
Although in our time, from about the post-perestroika period, when various marriage agencies and offices began to appear, good matchmakers began to be valued, and their services cost a lot of money. But it is completely wrong to call each other the mothers of the wife and husband. Their fathers are matchmakers, and the women themselves are matchmakers. Remember this nuance.