Bilocal residence, also called ambilocal residence, is a postmarital residence pattern in which a married couple may choose to live with or near either set of parents rather than being bound to one side, unlike fixed patrilocal or matrilocal residence. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Descent RuleSourced to the subject's own accountNot a descent rule: this is a residence choice in which a newly married couple decides freely to live with or near either the husband's or the wife's parents, rather than being assigned to one side by a fixed rule as under patrilocal or matrilocal residence. 1 Typical RegionDocumented among the Semai, an Orang Asli people of Peninsular Malaysia, whose newlyweds shuttle between living with the wife's and the husband's kin for weeks at a time before eventually settling with one side. 2 Descent Rule
Descent Rule (category)Sourced to the subject's own account Descent Rule (category)Sourced to the subject's own account Connections
Associated With
Bilocal residence, in which a couple may live with either the husband or wife kin, is the residence pattern characteristically paired with ambilineal descent, which likewise allows descent to be reckoned through either the father or mother line.
Held Differently
Both are postmarital residence rules; bilocal residence leaves the choice of side open where patrilocal residence fixes it to the husband's family.
In Rule Category
Entity-backed identity for the descent-rule category this kinship system already carries as an enum fact, resolved to a kinship-system entity by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The enum fact itself stays on the entity unchanged.
Entity-backed identity for the descent-rule category this kinship system already carries as an enum fact, resolved to a kinship-system entity by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The enum fact itself stays on the entity unchanged.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ambilocal Residence
WikipediaAmbilocal residence, lead paragraphQuote, Ambilocal residence, lead paragraph
Ambilocal residence (or ambilocality), also called bilocal residence (bilocality) is the societal postmarital residence in which couples, upon marriage, choose to live with or near either spouse's parents.
2. Wikipedia: Semai People
WikipediaSemai people, marriage and settlement pattern discussionQuote, Semai people, marriage and settlement pattern discussion
This might be the reason why Semai tend to have an ambilocal residence pattern after marriage, or shuttle between living with the wife or husband's kinsman every few weeks, slowly lengthening the time period stayed until the couple decides to settle down.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.