AP Human Geography - Unit 3 - Culture, Language, and Religion Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering culture, diffusion, language, and religion concepts based on the course lecture notes.

Abrahamic

Denoting any or all of the religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) that revere Abraham, the Biblical patriarch.

Acculturation

When a minority ethnic group adopts the values and practices of the dominant culture, but still maintains major elements of their own culture.

Amish

A group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German Anabaptist origins; known for simple living, plain dress, and reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology.

Anatolian Hearth Theory

Theory for the origin and diffusion of Indo-European languages proposed by Colin Renfrew that states that diffusion started from an Anatolian hearth (modern Turkey) and spread with farmers whose agricultural practices made them more successful and therefore able to outnumber other language groups and spread into Europe and SW Asia; also known as Sedentary Farmer Thesis.

Animism

The belief that inanimate objects or natural events have spirits and conscious life.

Assimilation

The loss of native cultural characteristics to a dominant culture.

Branch

A large, fundamental division within a religion.

Buddhism

The teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth.

Centrifugal force

Divide a state (lead to balkanization/devolution, disrupt internal order, destabilize, weaken).

Centripetal force

Unify a state (provide stability, strengthen, bind together, create solidarity).

Christianity

A monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as embodied in the New Testament, emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior.

Church

A building used for public Christian worship.

Colonialism

An attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economical, and cultural principles in another territory.

Creolization

Process in which two or more languages converge and form a new language (used to describe languages in the Caribbean when slavery and colonization merged cultures).

Cultural convergence

The tendency for cultures to become more alike as they increasingly share technology and organizational structures in a modern world united by improved transportation and communication.

Cultural divergence

The restriction of a culture from outside cultural influences.

Cultural hearth

Place from which an innovation originates.

Cultural landscape

The cultural impacts on an area, including buildings, agricultural patterns, roads, signs, and nearly everything else that humans have created.

Cultural relativism

The principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture.

Cultural traits

The specific customs that are part of the everyday life of a particular culture.

Culture

The way of life of a particular people, especially as shown in their ordinary behavior and habits, their attitudes toward each other, and their moral and religious beliefs.

Denomination

A division within a branch that unites local congregations in a single administrative body.

Dialect

Regional variation of a language with distinctive vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation.

Diffusion

Process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time.

Relocation diffusion

Spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another.

Expansion diffusion

Spread of a feature from one place to another in a snowballing process.

Contagious diffusion

Rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population.

Hierarchical diffusion

Spread of an idea from individuals or centers of authority or power to others.

Stimulus diffusion

Spread of an underlying principle, even though a characteristic itself fails to diffuse.

Ethnic culture

Based on a shared understanding of history and territorial origins (regional and national) of an ethnic group or community, as well as on particular cultural characteristics such as language and/or religion.

Ethnic religion

Appeals primarily to one group living in one place.

Ethnicity

Identity with a group who share cultural traditions of a particular homeland.

Ethnocentrism

Tendency to evaluate other cultures against the standards of one's own culture.

Folk culture

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

Fundamentalism

The belief in the original form of a religion or theory, without accepting any later ideas.

Gender

Social differences between men and women, rather than the anatomical, biological differences between the sexes.

Gender roles

Conveys the idea that there are certain social expectations and rights associated with being a man or a woman.

Heterogeneous

Diverse in character or content; dissimilar.

Hinduism

Ethnic religion and the main religion of India which includes the worship of many gods and the belief that after you die you return to life in a different form.

Homogeneous

Of the same kind; alike.

Imperialism

The practice of a country extending its power and influence over other countries, typically through the use of military force, economic coercion, or cultural domination.

Indigenous

People or objects native to a certain region or environment.

Indo-European

A family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, Iran, and northern India.

Islam

A universalizing religion based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed which stresses belief in one god (Allah), Heaven and Hell, and a body of law written in the Quran.

Isogloss

Word-usage boundary; shows which words/phrases are unique to particular regions.

Judaism

A monotheistic ethnic religion of Jews having its spiritual and ethical principles in the sacred Torah and in the Talmud.

Kurgan Hypothesis

Theory for the origin and diffusion of Indo-European languages proposed by Marija Gimbutas that states that the diffusion started with the Kurgan people from the Russian steppes (4300 BC), nomadic herders that used domesticated horses to conquer much of Europe and South Asia between 3500 and 2500 BC, bringing their language with them; also known as the Nomadic Warrior Thesis.

Language

System of communication through speech, a collection of sounds a group of people understands to have the same meaning.

Language branch

Languages related through a common ancestral language that existed several thousand years ago; differences not as old or as extensive as with language families.

Language family

Collection of languages related through common ancestral language that existed before recorded history.

Language group

Languages within a branch with a common origin in the relatively recent past and few differences in grammar and vocabulary.

Lingua franca

Language that facilitates communication or trade between people who speak different native languages; the original lingua franca was a language used to facilitate trade among the linguistically diverse inhabitants of the Mediterranean (Italian, French, Spanish, Greek, Arabic…).

Material culture

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

Mosque

The traditional Muslim place of worship; architecturally, it often features a minaret, or onion-shaped dome, on top.

Multiculturalism

The coexistence of several cultures in one society, with the ideal of all cultures being valued and worthy of study; a multicultural society can result when people from many different countries migrate to one place, or an empire conquers many countries.

Nonmaterial culture

Anything that comprises culture that cannot be physically touched (e.g., language and religion).

Pagoda

A tower in eastern Asia usually with roofs curving upward at the division of each of several stories and erected as a temple or memorial.

Pidgin language

Mixture of a lingua franca and a second language, no native speakers.

Placemaking

The process of creating quality places that people want to live, work, play, and learn in.

Popular culture

Found in large, heterogeneous societies that cover large areas and share certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics.

Postmodern architecture

Decries the modern architectural emphasis on efficiency and industry; instead tries to design buildings that are visually pleasing to human beings and provide modern humans with a link to their past.

Religion

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

Sacred site

The geographic intersection between the divine and the mortal.

Sect

A small group that has broken away from a denomination.

Sense of place

A characteristic that some geographic places have and some do not, while to others it is a feeling or perception held by people; often used in relation to those characteristics that make a place special or unique, as well as to those that foster a sense of authentic human attachment and belonging.

Sequent occupancy

The notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape.

Shia

The branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad.

Sikhism

The doctrines of a monotheistic religion founded in northern India in the 16th century by Guru Nanak and combining elements of Hinduism and Islam.

Sunni

A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad.

Synagogue

The building where a Jewish assembly or congregation meets for religious worship and instruction.

Syncretism

The merging of various characteristics into a new culture.

Taboo

A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom.

Terroir

The contribution of a location's distinctive physical features to the way food tastes.

Universalizing religion

Attempts to be global, to appeal to all, not just those of one culture or place.