unit 4: culture and languages

What is a Creole Language?

A creole language is a stable, fully developed natural language that has evolved from a pidgin, becoming the primary language of those who speak it.

What is Ethnocentrism?

The belief that one's own culture or ethnic group is superior to others.

What is an Ethnic Neighborhood?

An area within a city, typically a metropolitan area, where a specific ethnic group lives and forms a community, such as Chinatown.

What defines an Extinct Language?

A language that no longer has any living native speakers or any community that actively uses it for daily communication, such as Latin or Sanskrit.

What is an Isogloss?

A geographic boundary line that separates areas where different linguistic features are used, like the line separating 'soda' and 'pop' in the United States.

What is an Isolated Language?

A language that is unrelated to any other known language and is not attached to a language family, such as Basque, Ainu, or Korean.

What is a Lingua Franca?

A simplified language that combines aspects of two or more complex languages, commonly used for communication between speakers of different native languages, such as English or Swahili.

What is an Official Language?

The language designated by law or policy for use by the government in all official functions, including legislation, administration, and public documents.

What is a Pidgin Language?

A type of language that develops when two groups of people with different languages meet, resulting in a new language with simplified characteristics.

What is Placelessness (Uniform Landscape)?

The loss of uniqueness in a cultural landscape, leading to homogeneity due to globalization and popular culture, exemplified by suburban areas filled with identical strip malls and fast-food chains.

What is a Standard Language?

A form of a language that is widely recognized as the norm and is often used for official purposes, education, and mass communication.

What is considered Non-Material Culture?

The intangible aspects of a society's way of life, which include shared ideas, beliefs, values, and norms.

What is considered Material Culture?

The tangible, physical objects that a society creates and uses to define its culture, such as tools, weapons, and utensils.

What is Folk Culture?

Traditionally practiced by small, isolated, homogeneous groups in rural areas, such as Indian folk clothes.

What is Pop Culture?

Culture found in large, heterogeneous societies that diffuses rapidly due to modern communication and transportation, exemplified by Western clothes like jeans and t-shirts.

What is a Language Family?

A group of languages that share a common ancestry. Major language families include Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Niger-Congo, and Afro-Asiatic.