AP HUG Unit 3 Culture terms

AP

Acculturation

Cultural modification or change that results when one culture group or individual adopts certain customs of a dominant or host society; cultural development or change through "borrowing;" also known as cultural appropriation.

Assimilation

A process by which a minority population reduces or loses completely its identifying cultural characteristics and blends into the host society.

Bilingualism

Describing a society's use of two official languages.

Buddhism

A universalizing religion, primarily of eastern and central Asia, based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama and characterized by the belief that enlightenment would come through knowledge, especially self-knowledge; elimination of greed, craving, and desire; complete honesty; and never hurting another person or animal.

Built environment

The man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter to neighborhoods to the large-scale civic surroundings.

Christianity

A monotheistic, universalizing religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and of the Bible as sacred scripture. According to Christian teaching, Jesus is the son of God, placed on Earth to teach people how to live according to God's plan.

Creole

A language developed from a pidgin to become the native tongue of a society.

Cultural landscape

The visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape. The modifications to the environment by humans, including the built environment and agricultural systems, that reflect aspects of their culture.

Cultural hearth

Place of origin of a major culture.

Culture

The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group's distinct tradition.

Culture trait

A defining characteristic of the culture that is shared by most, if not all, members

Cultural relativism

The study of culture from the viewpoint of members of the culture, as opposed to the viewpoint of a researcher from a different culture

Dialect

Local or regional characteristics of a language. While accent refers to the pronunciation differences of a standard language, a dialect, in addition to pronunciation variation, has distinctive grammar and vocabulary.

Ethnic religion

A religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely to be based on physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated; ethnic religions do not actively seek converts.

Ethnocentrism

Evaluating other cultures based exclusively on the perspective of one's own culture.

Folk culture

Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogenous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.

Hinduism

An ethnic religion and one of the oldest religions in the modern world and now the dominant value system and religion in India, closely identified with Indian culture but without central creed, single doctrine, or religious organization. Dharma (customary duty and divine law) and caste are uniting elements.

Indo-European

The largest and most widespread language family, a collection of languages that might have all descended from a language spoken around 6,000 years ago

Islam

A monotheistic, universalizing religion that is based on the teachings of Muhammad. According to Islamic teachings, Muhammad received the truth directly from Allah in a series of revelations during which Muhammad spoke the verses of the Qu'ran (Koran), the Islamic holy book.

Judaism

A monotheistic, ethnic religion based on the teachings of Abraham. According to Jewish teaching, Abraham and God have a covenant in which the Jews agree to worship only one God, and God agrees to protect his chosen people, the Jews.

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.

Language family

A collection of languages thought to have descended from a single, common ancestral tongue, long before recorded history.

Lingua franca

A "common language," a language used among speakers of different languages for the purposes of trade and commerce.

Material culture

The physical items produced and used by members of a specific culture group and reflective of their traditions, lifestyles, and technologies.

Monotheistic religion

The doctrine or belief of the existence of only one god.

Multiculturalism

A set of policies that promote the active participation and inclusion of minority groups in national histories, national politics, and cultural institutions with the goal of embracing difference within a society

Nonmaterial culture

The beliefs, practices, and values of a group of people.

Official language

A governmentally designated language of instruction, of government, of the courts, and other official public and private communication.

Pidgin language

A form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua franca; used for communications among speakers of two different languages.

Pilgrimage

Voluntary travel by an adherent to a sacred site to pay respects or participate in a ritual at the site.

Placelessness

The loss of uniqueness of place in the cultural landscape so that one place looks like the next; also known as uniform landscape.

Polytheistic religion

Belief or worship of more than one god

Popular culture

Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics.

Religion

A system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate priorities.

Sacred sites

Location with special significance to a religious group. These sites are often natural features or religious structures directly connected with a deity or associated with significant events in the history of a particular religion.

Sequent occupancy

The use and modification of a place by successive cultural groups, reflecting differing cultural values, technologies, and social relations that together contribute to a cumulative cultural landscape.

Sikhism

A monotheistic, universalizing religion founded in the Punjab district of what is now India and Pakistan. It was founded by Guru Nanak and is based on his teachings, and those of the 9 Sikh gurus who followed him

Syncretism

The blending of traits from two different cultures to form a new trait.

Taboo

A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom

Universalizing religion

A religion that claims global truth and applicability, regardless of ethnicity or culture group, and seeks the conversion of all people via evangelism and missionary work.