English speakers have one of the simplest systems for describing familial relationships. Many African language speakers would consider it absurd to use a single word like “cousin” to describe both male and female relatives, or not to distinguish whether the person (A) [described / describing] is related by blood to the speaker’s father or to his mother. To be unable to distinguish a brother-in-law as the brother of one’s wife or the husband of one’s sister would seem confusing within the structure of personal relationships existing in many cultures. Similarly, how is it possible to make sense of a situation (B) [which / in which] a single word “uncle” applies to the brother of one’s father and to the brother of one’s mother? The Hawaiian language uses the same term to refer to one’s father and to the father’s brother. People of Northern Burma, who think in the Jinghpaw language, (C) [has / have] eighteen basic terms for describing their kin. Not one of them can be directly translated into English.