Culture and Language in Society

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary related to culture, language, diffusion, and religious systems as discussed in the lecture notes.

Folk Culture

Practiced primarily by small, homogeneous groups living in isolated, rural areas, representing traditional practices.

Popular Culture

Practiced by large, heterogeneous societies that share common habits and are characterized by rapidly changing tastes.

Cultural Appropriation

When popular culture takes elements from folk culture without permission, typically for profit.

Reterritorialization

The process in which folk culture adopts aspects of popular culture while interpreting them through their own values.

Murdock's Cross Cultural Index

A list of cultural traits identified by George P. Murdock that are common across various cultures.

Neolocalism

The practice of seeking out regional culture and reinvigorating it in response to modern world uncertainties.

Commodification

The process of transforming a name, good, or idea into a commodity that can be bought, sold, or traded.

Language Divergence

The process where a lack of spatial interaction among speakers of a language leads to the creation of dialects and new languages.

Language Convergence

The process where consistent spatial interaction among speakers of different languages leads to their languages collapsing into one.

Universalizing Religions

Religions that actively seek new converts because they believe they offer universal truths.

Ethnic Religions

Religions that followers are born into and do not actively seek converts.

Hearth

The origin or place where a particular cultural trait or religion begins.

Secularism

The indifference to or rejection of organized religion and the belief that religion and government should be separate.

Fundamentalism

A movement advocating a return to the foundational principles of a religion, often promoting the integration of religion with government.

Lingua Franca

A language used for communication between speakers of different native languages, often for trade or commerce.

Creole Language

A stable, fully developed language that arises from the mixing of two or more languages.

Dialect

A regional or social variation of a language distinguished by its vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.

Cultural Convergence

The tendency for different cultures to become more alike as they increasingly share the same technology and organizational structures.

Placelessness

The loss of uniqueness of place in the cultural landscape, leading to indistinguishable environments.

Diffusion

The process through which cultural elements spread from one area or group of people to others.