Human Complex Systems

We propose a calculus for kinship and affinity relationships that generates the classification of Dravidian terminologies proposed by Dumont (1953 and 1958) in the form given to them by Trautmann (1981). This calculus operates on the language D* of words for kinship and affinity, endowed with rules that select amongst the words in D* a sub-set of words in canonical Dravidian form. We prove that these rules generate uniquely the Dravidian structure (as in Trautmann's model B), and we demonstrate that that Trautmann's model B is the correct version of his model A. We discuss the meaning of the anticommutative structure of D*, and finally point to a generalization of the proposed calculus allowing its rules to be seen in the more general Iroquois context.