Language and Culture AP Human Unit 4 Vocab

Creole Language

A stable, full-blown language that develops from the mixing of two or more parent languages, often occurring in colonial settings where different groups had to communicate.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that your own culture or ethnic group is superior to others and using your own culture as the standard to judge everyone else.

Ethnic Neighborhood

An area within a city, often called a 'ghetto' or 'enclave,' where people of the same culture or ethnicity live together to maintain their traditions and support each other.

Extinct Language

A language that no longer has any living speakers who use it as their primary or native language.

Isogloss

A geographic boundary line on a map that marks the limit of where a specific linguistic feature, like a word or pronunciation, is used.

Isolated Language

A language that is not related to any other languages around it and has not developed from a common ancestor with its neighbors, such as Basque.

Lingua Franca

A common language used by people who speak different native languages to communicate for trade, business, or diplomacy (e.g., English is the global lingua franca).

Official Language

The language designated by a government to be used for all official documents, laws, and public business within a country.

Pidgin Language

A simplified, 'broken' language that develops between two groups who don't share a language; it has a limited vocabulary and no native speakers.

Placelessness (Uniform Landscape)

The idea that many places are starting to look the same because of global businesses and architecture, making it hard to tell where you are.

Standard Language

The 'proper' or official version of a language that is taught in schools, used in media, and accepted as the correct form for formal writing.

Taboo

A social or religious custom that prohibits or forbids a particular behavior, word, or object because it is considered offensive or sacred.