The Kanza Kinship System
KANZA KIN TERMS
For now, we will only be looking at natural relations, and not in-law relations. The Kanza kinship system uses about twenty separate kin terms for the various natural relations in the system. These kin terms are as follows:
| Kanza Kin Term | English Equivalent | Kanza Kin Term | English Equivalent | |
| Icígo | Grandfather | Izhíye | Elder Brother (M) | |
| Ikón | Grandmother | Icído | Elder Brother (F) | |
| * Indáje | Father | Isónga | Younger Brother (M) | |
| * Inán | Mother | Isónya | Younger Brother (F) | |
| Ijégi | Uncle | Itánge | Elder (or any) Sister (M) | |
| Icími | Aunt | Izhówe | Elder Sister (F) | |
| Icóshka | Nephew (M) | Itánge | Younger (or any) Sister (M) | |
| Icóshkayan | Nephew (F) | Itánge | Younger Sister (F) | |
| Icízho | Niece (M) | Izhínge | Son | |
| Icózhonge | Niece (F) | Izhónge | Daughter | |
| WIÉ | MYSELF | Icóshpa | Grandchild | |
In looking over this list, you may have noticed that most of the kin terms begin with the letter 'i.' Most kinship words in the Kanza system are capable of taking a small possessive prefix in front of the the letter 'i' to show whose kin it is. These prefixes are w+ for "my" and y+ for "your." For instance, take the Kanza word that means "daughter." Adding those prefixes gives us wizhónge (w + izhónge), meaning "my daughter," and yizhónge (y + izhónge), meaning "your daughter." Leaving the prefixes off, izhónge simply means "his or her daughter," or just "daughter." Be aware that this does not hold true for all of the kin terms. The words for father and mother stay the same, regardless of whose parents we're talking about. For this reason, they are marked with asterisks in the chart above. Words such as this must be followed by other words to show possession, wíta for "my," yíta for "your," or itá for "his or her." Now that you understand how the chart is set up and how the possessives work, you must also be aware that the Kanza kinship system is slightly different for men and women. For instance, Kanza men call their younger brothers wisónga, meaning "my younger brother (male speaking)." Kanza women, on the other hand, call their younger brothers wisónya, or "my younger brother (female speaking)." We have demonstrated this in the chart above with (M) for Male Speech and (F) for Female Speech.