Fictive Kinship Vocatives as Memetic Technology: An Evolutionary Analysis of "Primo", "Compadre", and "Brother"
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: This paper proposes a functional hypothesis about address terms derived from kinship vocabulary: expressions such as "primo" (cousin), "hermano" (brother), "compadre," and "bro," directed at genetically unrelated interlocutors, are not superficial vernacular conventions but low-entropy memes that activate evolutionarily conserved cognitive modules, reduce friction costs in low-trust environments, and function as coalitional signaling devices. The argument integrates Dawkins's extended phenotype theory and memetics, Henrich's comparative cultural psychology, and multilevel Evolutionary Game Theory. It analyzes a formalization gradient from momentary colloquial activation to the Catholic compadrazgo institution and predicts that fictive kinship vocatives directed at strangers covary negatively with institutional quality.
Author: LERER, Ignacio Adrián
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7166685616
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