AP Human Geography Unit 3 Vocab

Acculturation

when two cultures come into contact and the less dominant culture adopts some of the traits of the more influential one

Animism

the belief that inanimate objects (rocks, mountain, rivers, plants) have spirits and a conscious life

Artifacts

Concrete human creations that reflect values, beliefs, and behaviors

Assimilation

When the dominant culture completely absorbs the less dominant; Usually 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations

Baha'i

universalizing religion, relatively new, founded in Iran (most followers there), believe that Husayn 'Ali Nuri was a prophet (not Muhammad)

Behaviors

actions that people take

Beliefs

specific statements that people believe to be true

Bilingualism

the ability to communicate in two languages

Branch

large basic divisions within a religion

Buddhism

World's 3rd major universalizing religion; began in India and diffused along the Silk Road

"Cape Code" house style

a New England-style house that originated in the late 17th century; for small families; originally built for soldiers and their families after WWII; curb appeal

Christianity

a universalizing religion that has the most followers and the most widespread distribution; predominant in North America, South America, Europe, and Australia

composite culture

both material and non-material

Confucianism

often viewed as philosophy (not religion), provides code of moral conduct based on humaneness and family loyalty, Chinese

Contagious diffusion

form of expansion diffusion, when almost all individuals and areas outward from source region are affected

Creole

when a pidgin becomes the first language of a group of speakers

Cultural determinism

Emphasizes human culture as ultimately more important than physical environment in shaping human activities

Cultural diffusion

the spread of material and non-material culture to areas around them

Cultural ecology

the field that studies the relationship between the natural environment and culture

Cultural geography

important component of human geography, The study of the relationship between culture and place.

Cultural hearths

the areas where civilizations first began that radiated the customs, innovations, and ideologies that culturally transformed the world

Cultural landscape

the modification of the natural landscape by human activities

Cultural Possibilism

the school of thought holds that cultural heitage is as important as the physical environment in terms of shaping human behavior; PEOPLE ARE THE PRIMARY ARCHITECTS OF CULTURE

Cultural relativism

the practice of evaluating a culture by its own standards; the idea that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another.

Cultural transmission

the process by which one generation passes culture to the next

culture

the complex mix of values, beliefs, behaviors, and material objects that together form a people's way of life; non-material and material

Culture complex

when culture traits combine in a distinctive way, consists of common values, beliefs, behaviors, and artifacts that make a group in an area distinct from others

Culture region

an area marked by culture that distinguishes it from other regions

Culture system

a group of interconnected culture complexes

Culture trait

single attribute of a culture (ex. wearing a turban)

Daoism

holds that human happiness lies in maintaining proper harmony with nature, Chinese

Denomination

divisions of branches that unite local groups in a single administrative body

Dialect

a regional variant of a standard language

Diasporas

forced exodus from their lands of origin (ex. Jews)

Durkheim's sacred and profane

French sociologist's theory that as humans we define most objects, events, and experiences as profane (ordinary), but we define some things as sacred (extraordinary)

Eastern Orthodox

about 12% of all Christians, officially split from Roman Catholicism in 11th century, strong in Eastern Europe and Russia

Environmental determinism

belief that the physical environment, especially the climate and terrain, actively shapes cultures, so that human responses are almost completely molded by the environment

Environmental perception

the school of thought emphasizes the importance of human perception of the environment, rather than the actual character of the land

Ethnic religion

appeal primarily to one group of people living in one place

Ethnocentrism

the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture

Expansion diffusion

occurs when an innovation or idea develops in a source area and remains strong there while spreading outward

Extinct language

a language that was once in use, but is no longer spoken or read in daily activities by anyone in the world

Folk culture

Culture practiced by small, homogeneous groups living in isolated areas

Folk culture region

When many people who live in a land space share some of the same folk customs

Folk life

Composite culture (material and nonmaterial) that shape the lives of folk societies

Food taboos

rules that forbid certain food from being consumed; can be for religious or government purposes

Geographic region

a culture region representing an entire culture system that intertwines with its locational and environmental circumstances

Globalization

the expansion of economic, political, and cultural activities to the point that they reach and have impact on many areas of the world

Hagerstrand, Torste

wrote about cultural diffusion at about the same time as Sauer, since then geographers have classified diffusion processes into expansion and relocation diffusion

Heterogeneity

the quality or state of being diverse in character or content

Hierarchal diffusion

type of expansion diffusion, where ideas and artifacts spread first between larger places or more prominent people and only later to smaller places and less prominent people

Hinduism

world's 3rd largest religion, most adherents live in India, ethnic religion, world's oldest organized religion, no central god and a single holy book (each individual decides best way to worship)

Homogeneity

the quality or state of being all the same or all of the same kind

Humanism

emphasizes the ability of human beings to guide their own lives

Independent inventions

developments that can be traced to a specific civilization

Indo-European language family

most commonly cited language family, since languages from this family are spoken by about half the world's people (with English as most widely used)

Islam

Universalizing religion; youngest and 2nd largest religion; mostly in the Middle East; diffused from Mecca to Central Asia, North Africa, and Spain

Isogloss

physical boundaries within which particular words are used

Judaism

Ethnic religion; one of the oldest religions; members spread due to diaspora; 1st recorded monotheistic religion

Language

a systematic means of communicating ideas and feelings through the use of signs, gestures, marks, or vocal sounds

Language families

language groups each with a shared, but fairly distant origin

Language sub-families

smaller, more recent groups of languages (ex. Romance languages: sub-family of Indo-European, origins in Latin, including Spanish, French and Italian)

Lingua franca

an established language that comes to be spoken and understood over a large area

Linguist

those who study languages

Linguist fragmentation

a condition in which many languages are spoken, each by a relatively small number of people

Linguistic geography

the study of speech areas and their local variations by mapping word choices, pronunciation, or grammatical constructions

Mahayana

branch of Buddhism, 56% of Buddhists, incorporation of ideas and gods from other religions as it spread into East Asia (China, Korea)

Marxism

ideology that transformed communism into a central ideology in many areas during the 20th century

Material culture

things that are created by humans. Examples include cars, buildings, clothing, and tools.

Migrant diffusion

type of relocation diffusion, where the spread of cultural traits is slow enough that they weaken in the area of origin by the time they reach other areas

Monotheistic religion

centered on the belief in one God

Multilingualism

the ability to communicate in more than two languages

Non-material culture

the abstract ideas and ways of thinking that make up a culture. Examples of nonmaterial culture include traffic laws, words, and dress codes.

Norms

Rules/ expectations by which society guides behavior of its members

Official language

the language endorsed and recognized by the government as the one that everyone should know and use

Pidgin

a grammatically simplified form of a language, used for communication between people not sharing a common language.

Popular culture

a set of the practices, beliefs, and objects that are dominant in a heterogeneous society at a given point in time.

Protestants

about 18% on the world's Christians, first split from Catholic Church in 16th century, strong in North America, Northern Europe, Britain, South Africa, and Australia

Regional identity

Awareness of being part of a group living in a culture region

Religion

a particular belief system (explains the relationship of the individual ot the world and the meaning of life nad death)

Religion: branches, denominations, sects

divisions of universalizing religions, branches: large and basic divisions within a religion, denominations: divisions of branches that unite local groups in a single administrative body, sects: relatively small groups that do not affiliate with the more mainstream denominations

Relocation diffusion

People migrating from source areas physically carry the innovation/idea to new areas

Roman Catholics

about 50% of the world's Christians, concentrated in Latin America, French Canada, Central Africa, and Southern and Eastern Europe

Saltbox house style

A colonial style of architecture originating in New England around 1650 and commonly built by the 18th century; has a roof with unequal sides (the roof in the back is longer than the front) which helps during snow falls so snow is more at the back of the house instead of the front

Sauer, Carl

A critic of environmental determinism, he sought to demonstrate that nature does not create culture, but instead, culture working with and on nature, creates ways-of-life.

Sect

relatively small groups that do not affiliate with the more mainstream denominations

Shamanism

ethnic religion in which people follow their shaman (religious leader and teacher believed to be in contact with the supernatural), followers isolated from one another, traditional religion

Shiite

16% of all Muslims, most located in a few countries of the Middle East (Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and Yemen.)

Shintoism

a native ethnic religion of Japan; focuses on nature and reverence of ancestor; no longer the state religon of Japan, it still thrives in Japan; prayers are offered to ancestors and shrines mark reverence for house dieties

Sikhism

universalizing religion, 21 million live in Punjab region of India, stress continual improvement and movement toward perfection by taking individual responsibility for their actions, combines beliefs from Hinduism and Islam, Guru Nanak

Standard language

a language recognized by the government and the intellectual elite as the norm for use in schools, government, media, and other aspects of public life

Stimulus diffusion

type of expansion diffusion, a basic idea, though not the specific trait itself, stimulates imitative behavior within a population.
Expansion occurs, but the idea / product is adapted.

Sunni

83% of all Muslims, largest branch in Middle East and Asia, largest concentration in Indonesia, believe religious leaders should choose Muhammad's successor

Symbolic landscape

Land that has accumulated meaning over time. ex. The Temple mount

Symbols

Express personal and cultural identity

Syncretism

the process of the fusion of the old and new; the combining or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.

Tantrayana

branch of Buddhism, 6% of Buddhists, emphasis on magic and different meditation techniques, mainly in Tibet and Mongolia

Theraveda

38% of Buddhists; stricter adherence to Buddha's teachings; strong in Southeast Asia

Time-distance decay

the influence of the cultural traits weakens as time and distance increase

Toponymy

the study of place names