Unit 3: Cultural Pattern and Processes Vocabulary

Acculturation

Process of changes in culture that result from the meeting of two groups, each of which retains distinct cultural features

Assimilation

Process by which a group’s cultural features are altered to resemble those of another more dominant group

Contagious Diffusion

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population

Cultural Convergence

Theory that two cultures will be more and more like each other as their interactions increase

Cultural Divergence

Occurs when cultures become more different from other cultures

Cultural Landscape

An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area

Cultural Relativism

Not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right or wrong, strange, or normal. Trying to understand cultural practices of other groups in their own context

Diffusion

The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time

Ethnic Cultures

Group of people bound together by cultural characteristics and clustered together in the same area

Ethnocentricism

Belief that own culture is superior

Ethnic Religion

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 (Hinduism and Judaism)

Expansion Diffusion

Spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in an additive process

Indigenous Communities

Group of people that inhabited a region before people of different ethnicity arrived and became the majority

Hierarchical Diffusion

Spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places

Multiculturalism

Different cultures in a society deserve value and respect for unique differences

Relocation Diffusion

Spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another

Stimulus Diffusion

The spread of an underlying principle even though a specific characteristic is rejected (modification)

Syncretism

Combining of elements in two groups into a new cultural feature

Time Space Convergence

Reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved communications and transportation systems

Centripetal Forces

An attitude that tends to unify people and enhance support for a state

Centrifugal Forces

Forces or attitudes that tend to divide a state

Ethnic Neighborhoods

Concentrations of people from the same ethnicity in certain pockets of the city

Gender Roles

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

Race vs. Ethnicity

The idea of race refers to superficial physical differences that a particular society considers significant, while ethnicity describes shared culture.

Creolization/Creolized Languages

A language that results from the mixing of a colonizer’s language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated

Dialect

A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation

Indo-European

Largest language family

Hearth

Region from which innovative ideas originate

Language Family

A collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history

Language

System of communication through the use of speech, collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning

Lingua Franca

Language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages

Toponyms

Name given to a portion of Earth’s surface

Universalizing Religion

A religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism)

Sequent Occupance

cultures leave MARK on geographic location

Official Language

Used by government for law, reports, and public. Usually understood by majority of citizens

Language Family

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

Language Branch

Collection of languages in a family through common ancestral language

Language Group

Collection of languages within a branch with a common origin

Pidgin Language

Mix of simple language

Isogloss

Geographic boundaries for distribution of dialects and specific words

Ebonics

Combination of ebony and phonics