The Animal Names of the Arab Ancestors: Explaining the Non-Human Names of Arab Kinship Groups, Volume 2-2 Appendices

In the Arab world, people belong to kinship groups (lineages and tribes). Many lineages are named after animals, birds, and plants. Why? This survey evaluates five old explanations - ＂totemism,＂ ＂emulation of predatory animals,＂ ＂ancestor eponymy,＂ ＂nicknaming,＂ and ＂Bedouin proximity to nature.＂ It suggests a new hypothesis: Bedouin tribes use animal names to obscure their internal cleavages. Such tribes wax and wane as they attract and lose allies and clients; they include ＂attached＂ elements as well as actual kin. To prevent outsiders from spotting ＂attached＂ groups, Bedouin tribes scatter non-human names across their segments, making it difficult to link any segment with a human ancestor. Young’s argument contributes to theories of tribal organization, Arab identity, onomastics, and Near Eastern kinship.