Cousins in Shona
This Shona Language page shows how gender affects the way cousins are treated or described.By Shona convention, all children of my father's brothers and all children of my mother's sisters are regarded as my own brothers and sisters. The children of my father's sisters and the children of my mother's brothers are differently described. See the listing below.

Maternal cousins of a girl 
English Shona
Daughter of mothers sister, if older mukoma - old sister
Daughter of mothers sister, if younger munun'una or munin'ina - young sister
Son of mothers sister hanzvadzi - brother
Son of mothers brother sekuru - uncle
Daughter of mothers brother mainini or amainini - young mother

Maternal cousins of a boy
English Shona
Son of mothers sister, if older mukoma - old brother
Son of mothers sister, if younger munun'una or munin'ina - young brother
Daughter of mothers sister hanzvadzi - sister
Son of mothers brother sekuru - uncle
Daughter of mothers brother mainini or amainini - young mother

Paternal cousins of a girl
English Shona
Daughter of fathers brother, if younger mukoma - old sister
Daughter of fathers brother, if older munun'una or munin'ina - young sister
Sons of fathers brother hanzvadzi - brother
Son of fathers sister mwana - son
Daughter of fathers sister mwana - daughter

Paternal cousins of a boy
English Shona
Son of fathers brother, if older mukoma - old brother
Son of fathers brother, if younger munun'una or mun'inina - young brother
Daughter of fathers brother hanzvadzi - sister
Son of fathers sister muzukuru - nephew
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Submitting Shona Words
Help increase the Shona word list in the database for these Shona Language pages by submitting additional words I omitted and their meanings. Omissions may include instances where I did not cover all possible meanings of a word. In that case, treat the word as a new word and include all possible meanings for the word in question. Basic guide to submitting omitted words is on the Add Words page.

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This is an ongoing project and any suggestions you have to improve the information offered here, word changes and/or spelling corrections, would be greatly appreciated. E-mail any comments or suggestions you have to Martin Shumba.
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