niece

Japanese: おい･めい(甥･姪) - おいめい

Nephews and nieces are a type of collateral relative, and in the past, families that included them as members were common in areas where branching was prominent, but their number has decreased significantly with the trend toward nuclear families. Even today, however, nephews and nieces play an important role in social life, although not as legal relations in which property is inherited, and the relationship between nephews/nieces and uncles/aunts in rites of passage is particularly noteworthy. In marriage ceremonies, uncles/aunts act as matchmakers for nephews/nieces, while nephews/nieces mainly play the role of coffin bearers when their uncles/aunts die.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

おい･めいは傍系親族の一種であり，かつてはこれを家族成員として含む家族も分家が顕著に行われた地域で多く見られたが，現在は核家族化の進行にともなって著しく減少した。しかし今日でもおい･めいは財産相続が行われる法的関係としてではないが，社会生活において重要な役割を占めており，なかでも通過儀礼におけるおい･めいとおじ･おばの関係が注目される。婚姻儀礼においてはおじ･おばがおい･めいの仲人的役割を果たすのに対して，おい･めいはおじ･おばの死にあたって主として棺かつぎの役割を果たす。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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