Unit 3 Vocabulary

Anna Buan

Accents
Varieties of language that differ solely in
pronunciation

Acculturation
The modification of the social patterns, traits, or
structures of one group or society by contact
with those of another; the resultant blendex: A
first generation Italian who lives in an Italian
enclave in the United States may continue to
speak just Italian and to follow the norms and
mores of his Italian origins. This person will not
have become highly acculturated to American
culture.

Afro-Asiatic
Arabic

Animism
Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or
natural events, like thunderstorms and
earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and
conscious life.ex: water god, earth god, fire god

Apartheid
A social policy or racial segregation involving
political and economic and legal discrimination
against non-whites

Artifacts
Objects created and used by humans.ex: bones

Assimilation
According to Piaget, the process by which new
ideas and experiences are absorbed and
incorporated into existing mental structures and
behaviors

Ex: when a young child learns the word 'dog' for

the family pet

Balkanization
Process by which a state breaks down through
conflicts among its ethnicities

Barrio
An urban area in a Spanish-speaking country

Branches
Higher level of authority. Combined resources
(groups and divisions)

Buddhism
A religion based on the teachings of the Buddha.

Built Environment
The part of the physical landscape that
represent material culture; the buildings, roads,
bridges, and similar structures large and small of
the cultural landscape

Christianity
A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices
based on the Old Testament and the teachings
of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and
emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior.

Confucianism
A philosophy that adheres to the teachings of
the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It shows the
way to ensure a stable government and an
orderly society in the present world and stresses
a moral code of conduct.

Creole
American born descendants of Europeans

Cultural Adaptation
A complex of ideas, activities, and technologies
that enables people to survive and even thrive
in their environmentexample: someone growing
up with a strong influence of their culture

Cultural Core
Practices by which people organize their work
and produce food and other goods necessary for
their survivalex: buddhism came from India

Cultural Ecology
Geographic approach that emphasizes humanenvironment relationships.

Cultural Identity
Ones belief in belonging to a group or certain
cultural aspect

Cultural Landscape
Fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural
group

Cultural Realm
The combination of the cultural traits that is in a
group that spreads over an area.

Cultural Shatterbelt
A politically unstable region where differing
cultural elements come into contact and conflict

Culture
Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific
group of people.

Culture Region
An area in which people have many shared
culture traits

Development of English
Old English --> Middle English (1066 - 1500s)
--> Modern English

Dialects
different forms of the same language that have
unique words, meanings, and pronunciationsex:
Hispanic and Asian dialects are usually fast
paced when they are speaking their own
language

Endangered Languages
Languages that are not being taught to children
by their parents and are not being used actively
in everyday matters.

Ethnic Cleansing
Process in which more powerful ethnic group
forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to
create an ethnically homogeneous region

Ethnic Conflict
type of conflict that occurs when different tribes
are lumped together to form a country

Ethnic Enclave
a small area occupied by a distinctive minority
culture

Ethnic Group
Group of people who share common ancestry,
language, religion, customs, or combination of
such characteristics

Ethnic Homeland
the concept of the place (cultural geography) to
which an ethnic group holds a long history and a
deep cultural association with

Ethnic Landscape
area of land with the same culture

Ethnic Neighborhood
an area within a city containing members of the
same ethnic background

Ethnic Religions
focus on one ethnic group and generally have
not spread into other cultures

Ethnocentrism
Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic
group.

Ethnoloinguistic Group
ethnic group distinguished mainly through the
presence of a distinct language.

Fatwa
A ruling on a point of Islamic law that is given by
a recognized authority

Folk Culture
Culture traditionally practiced by a small,
homogeneous, rural group living in relative
isolation from other groupsex: Amish

Folk Food
food that is tradtionally made by the common
people of a region and forms part of their culture

Folk House
houses that reflect cultural heritage, current
fashion, functional needs, and the impact of
environment. The form of each house is related
in part to environmental as well as social
conditions.

Folklore
The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and
practices of a people, transmitted orally.

Folk Songs
songs belonging to the folk music of a group of
people or area, has many versions which vary
from region to region

Freedom of Religion
First Amendment

Fundamentalism
Conservative beliefs in the Bible and that it
should be literally believed and applied

Ghetto
A segregated ethnic area within a city.ex:
downtown atlanta, cheap neighborhoods

Groups
Collections of people who interact with one
another on the basis of interrelated statuses and
roles and who feel some awareness that they
share something in common.

Hinduism
A religion and philosophy developed in ancient
India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation
and a supreme being who takes many formsex:
almost all of hindus are in India

Ideograms
The system of writing used in China and other
East Asian countries in which each symbol
represents an idea or concept rather than a
specific sound, as is the case with letters in
English.

Indo-European Languages
a family (or phylum) of several hundred related
languages and dialects,[1] including most major
languages of Europe, Iran, and northern India,
and historically also predominant in Anatolia and
Central Asia.

Innovators
First adopters of new products

Islam
A monotheistic religion that developed in Arabia
in 7th century, means "submission to the will of
Allah"

Isogloss
A boundary that separates regions in which
different language usages predominateex: The
Benrath line distinguishes High German from the
other West Germanic language

Isolated Language
A language that is unrelated to any other
languages and therefore not attached to any
language family

Judaism
A religion with a belief in one god. It originated
with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Yahweh
was responsible for the world and everything
within it. They preserved their early history in
the Old Testament.ex: Many moved from their
diaspora to Israel

Laggards
Consumers who like to avoid change and rely on
traditional products until they are no longer
available

Landscapes of the Dead

The certain areas where people have commonly
been buried

Language
A system of communication through the use of
speech, a collection of sounds understood by a
group of people to have the same meaning.

Lingua Franca
A language mutually understood and commonly
used in trade by people who have different
native languagesex: spanglish and franglais

Madrasa
A school for the study of Muslim law and
religious science

Majority Adopters
people who adopt the phenomena as it becomes
more popular or common

Material Culture
Artifacts of a society that represent adaptations
to the social and physical environmentex: sacred
spaces

Mentifacts
The ideas, beliefs, and values of a culture

Monotheism
Belief in one Godex: christianity, islam, judaism

Multi-Ethnic State
State that contains more than one ethnicity

Multi-National State
State that contains two or more ethnic groups
with traditions of self-determination that agree
to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other
as distinct nationalities.

Nationalism
A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's
country

Nationality
Identity with a group of people that share legal
attachment and personal allegiance to a
particular place as a result of being born there

Nonmaterial Culture
ideas, knowledge and beliefs that influence
people's behaviorex: gods

Periphery Pattern
the spread of outlying regions adjacent to
cultural cores, with lesser economic ties and the
primary step of pop culture diffusionex:
Buddhism

Pidgin
A simplified form of speech developed from two
or more languagesex: hawaiin pidgin, nigerian
pidgin

Placelessness
Defined by the geographer Edward Relph as the
loss of uniqueness of place in the cultural
landscape so that one place looks like the next

Plural Society
a society in which different cultural groups keep
their own identity, beliefs, and traditions

Polyglot States
states that grant legal equality to two or more
languages. india, belgium, canada.

Polytheism
Belief in many godsex: hinduism

Popular Culture
Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society
that shares certain habits despite differences in
other personal characteristics.ex: christianity,
islamic

Race
A group of human beings distinguished by
physical traits, blood types, genetic code
patterns or genetically inherited characteristics.
ex: African American, Hispanic, Caucasian

Secularization
A process of removing institutions such as
education and government from the dominance
or influence of religion.

Segregation Index
A numerical measure of the degree of
separation of two or more distinct groups.

Sequent Occupance
The notion that successive societies leave their
cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to
the cumulative cultural landscape

Sharia Law
the code of law derived from the Koran and from
the teachings and example of Mohammed

Shinto
A Japanese religion whose followers believe that
all things in the natural world are filled with
divine spirits

Sino-Tibetan
A language composed of the Chinese and
Tibeto-Burman languages. They are 2nd behind
Indo-European in number of native speakers.

Social Dialects
a form of speech used by a group within a
society characterized especially by the
socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and/or gender
of the speakers

Social Distance
A measure of the likelihood that dissimilar
groups will interact in society. Influences the
degree of assimilation for minority groups.

Sociofacts
The institutions and links between individuals
and groups that unit a culture, including family
structure and political, educational and religious
institutions.

Syncretism
A blending of two or more religious traditions

Taoism
A Chinese philosophy in which people live a
simple life in harmony with nature.

Theocracy
A government controlled by religious leaders

Toponym
Place Name

Universalizing
A religion that attempts to appeal to all people,
not just those living in a particular location.

Vernacular Dialects
Varieties of spoken American English that are
considered to be outside the continuum of
informal standard English