aile

Aile is the Turkish term for the social unit commonly known in English as the family. It denotes a group of people linked by kinship, marriage, or adoption. While the exact composition varies by culture and individual circumstances, aile typically includes parents and their children and may include extended relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Structures and forms: The nuclear family—two parents and their children—is common in many contexts, but extended and multigenerational households are also found in many cultures. Adoption, stepfamilies, and guardianships expand the range of what can be considered an aile.

Functions: Families provide emotional support, socialization of children, economic cooperation, caregiving, and the transmission of cultural values and resources. They often determine names, inheritance, and lineage, and serve as a primary context for education and moral development.

Legal and cultural variation: Most legal systems regulate family life through family law, addressing marriage, divorce, child custody, property, and inheritance. Norms about roles, gender expectations, and caregiving duties vary across cultures and have evolved over time.

Contemporary considerations: Urbanization, migration, changing gender roles, and fertility patterns influence family structures. Digital communication can affect interaction within aile, while social policy and welfare programs shape the support available to its members.