Unit 3 - Culture Vocab

Acculturation

Acculturation

adoption of cultural traits, such as language, by one group under the influence of another

Architecture

the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings.

Artifacts

The material manifestation of culture, including tools, housing, systems of land use, clothing, etc. "What a culture uses"

Assimilation

the process of a person or group losing the cultural traits that made them distinct from the people around them

Branch

a major division within a religion

Caste System

a rigid set of social classes that provides privileges for the higher classes and limits on the lower classes - a person is born in a caste and castes only change upon reincarnation

Creole or creolized language

a language that began as a combination of two other languages and is spoken as the primary language of a group of people

Cultural convergence

when two cultures become more similar because of frequent interactions

Cultural divergence

when a culture splits into different cultures because of lack of interaction

Cultural relativism

the idea that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, rather than be judged through the eyes of another culture

dialect

different forms of the same language used by groups that have some different vocabulary and pronunciations

diaspora

the scattering a of people from their homeland (especially the Jews from the Holy Land)

Indigenous (Folk/Ethnic) Culture

the cultural traditions that are generally held by a specific ethnic group, often localized in a specific area

Indigenous language

a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous people

Indigenous people

the original settlers of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled the area more recently

Language extinction

a language that is no longer spoken by anyone as their native language

Language family

a collection of languages that are all descended from an original, proto-language

Lingua franca

a language that groups of people who don't speak the same language use to communicate often for trade or business

Mentifacts

the central, enduring elements of a culture expressing its values and beliefs, including language, religion, folklore, and etc. "What a culture believes"

Multiculturalism

when various ethnic groups coexist with one another without having to sacrifice their particular identities

Pilgrimage

a journey to a location that has religious significance

Secularism

a philosophy that interprets life on principles taken solely from the material world, without recourse to religion.

Sense of place

a strong feeling of identity that is deeply felt by inhabitants and visitors of a location

Sequent occupance

the idea that the current cultural landscape is a combination of all the societies who lived there previously and the changes each group made

Sociofacts

the institutions and links between individuals and groups that unite a culture, including family structure and political, educational and religious institutions. "What a culture does"

Syncretism

the blending traits from two different cultures to form a new trait

taboo

something that is forbidden by a culture or a religion, sometimes so forbidden that it is often not even discussed

Universalizing religion

a religion that attempts to appeal to all people and has a worldwide focus as opposed to a regional focus

Ethnic Religion

a religion that is focused on a single ethnic group (often in a centralized area) that doesn't attempt to appeal to all people

Ethnocentrism

judging people or traditions based on your own cultural standards

Gender

Cultural differences in the expectations of behavior by men and women in a specific society