Talk:Segmentary lineage

Can we get an anthropologist's explanation? Brutannica 19:36, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

old Arab saying
Can anyone comment on the grammar in the translation of the "old Arab saying"? It ought to be "I against my brothers, I and my brothers against my cousins, I and my cousins against the world," unless someone can confirm that the saying in Arabic casts the first-person pronoun in the accusative case rather than the nominative. (If this change is made, the word order could also be changed to flow better to an English-speaker's ear, e.g. "...my brothers and I against....") -- Super Aardvark 20:23, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

The saying is still used today, but never with "I against my brothers". I'll correct it. Also, in the arabic version it is "strangers" instead of "the world". But this I'll keep, it sounds better. SheriKan 13:32, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

stand with
The phrase stand with is used repeatedly, and with vague meaning. I don't know the exact meaning that is intended, but would offer something like "family is the basis of alliances in any sort of conflict" instead of the vague "family... will generally stand with each other". All instances of "stand with" should be made more clearly.Zolot