When Fourth can Precede Second

Abstract

This article presents a developmental analysis of children's understanding of an indigenous birth-order naming system used in a remote Papua New Guinea island community (Ponam Island). The naming system is organized such that boys are given one set of names depending upon their birth-order relation to other boys of a family, and girls are given a separate set of names depending upon their birth-order relation to other girls of a family. The names are invariant across families. On the basis of Piaget's theory, it was hypothesized that developmental changes in operational reasoning would be necessary for children to understand the determinate and indeterminate age relations implied by birth-order names within and across sex. To test this formulation, 29 Ponam islanders were interviewed who ranged in age from 8 to 23 years. The findings supported the general formulation.