Concerning kin and kinship groups in the structure of Chechen taip

The study reviews kin and kinship groups in the structure of Chechen taip in the period of the Chechen traditional society. The paper analyzes the different interpretations on the subject matter in the national historical and ethnographic studies. The research attempts to define the structural criteria and social functions of groups and identify the distinctive features of kin and kinship groups in the structure of Chechen taip. The author presents the original historical semantics of such Chechen terms as ‘гара’ (a branch of taip), ‘некъе’ (genealogy), and ‘цхьана цIийна нах’ (clan). It is concluded that a taip and its structural units performed different social functions at the different stages of historical development of the Chechen people. These functions were lost or transformed under the social and economic changes in society.