AP Human Unit 4 Vocab Flashcards

128. Acculturation

The process of cultural modification resulting from sustained contact between different cultures. Involving the adoption of cultural characteristics by one group under the influence of another.

129. Assimilation

The process of social, cultural, and political integration of a minority into a dominant culture and society. More complete absorption into dominant culture, leaving traditions behind.

130. Cultural Landscape

The modification of the natural landscape by human activities, resulting in a visible human imprint on the land.

131. Custom

A common way of doing things that has been done for a long time in a more traditional manner.

132. Folk Culture

The traditional practices, customs, and beliefs of small, homogeneous groups of people, often in rural areas, that have been passed down through generations.

133. Habit

A routine behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

134. Hearth

The particular area where a particular culture originated and spread from.

135. Maladaptation

A trait or adaptation that is more harmful than helpful.

136. Mentifact

The shared ideas, values, and beliefs of a culture.

137. Popular Culture

The set of ideas, practices, beliefs, and objects that are prevalent and widely accepted within mainstream society at a given time.

138. Sociofact

The structures and organizations of a culture that influence social behavior.

139. Taboo - A restriction on behavior imposed by social culture.

140. Terroir

Unique/specific environmental factors that contribute to the

141. Trait

An attribute or characteristic of a culture, such as a language, religion, customs, or practices that helps to define a group’s way of life.

142. Transculturalation

The process in which subjugated groups creatively adopt and transform cultural forms from dominant groups.

143. Uniform Landscape

An area that has been shaped and standardized by cultural and economic practices, leading to a homogeneity in appearance and function.

144. Vernacular Region

An area that people believes exists because of their cultural identity.

145. Creole

Languages that are formed by the combination of two or more languages.

146. Denglish

A combination of Deutsch (German) and English

147. Developing Language

A language spoken in daily use with a literary tradition that is not widely distributed.

148. Dialect

Regional or social variations of a language that differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

149. Ebonics

Dialect spoken by some African-Americans

150. Ethnologue

An annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world.

151. Extinct language

A language that no longer exists.

152. Institutional Language

A language used in education, wok, mass media, and government; spoken and written.

153. Isogloss

A boundary line between two distinct linguistic regions.

154. Isolated language

language unrelated to any other languages and unattached to any language family.

155. 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.

156. Language Branch

collection of languages reated through a common ancestor that can be confirmed through archaeological evidence.

157. Language family

collection of languages reated through a common ancestor long before recorded history.

158. Language group

collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary.

159. Lingua franca

A language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages.

160. Literary tradition

A language that is written as well as spoken. This includes a system of written communication.

161. Logogram

A symbol that represents a word rather than a sound.

162. Official language

The language adopted for use by a country’s government for the conduct of business and publication of documents.

163. 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.

164. Received Pronunciation (RP)

The dialect of English associated with upper-class Britons living in London and now considered standard in the United Kingdom.

165. Standard Language

The form of a language used for official government business, education, and mass communications.

166. Subdialect

A subdivision of a dialect, usually marked by specific local phonetic, grammatical, and lexical peculiarities.

167. Vigorous Language

A language that is spoken in daily use by people of all ages, but lacks a literary tradition.

168. Vulgar Latin

A form of Latin used in daily conversation by ancient Romans, as opposed to the standard dialect, which was used for official documents.

169. Agnosticism

The belief that the existence of God, or the divine, or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable.

170. Animism

The belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence.

171. Atheism

The absence of belief in the existence of deities.

172. Autonomous religion

A religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally.

173. Branch

A large and fundamental division within a religion.

174. Caste

The class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law.

175. Congregation

A local assembly of persons brought together for common religious worship

176. Cosmogony

set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe.

177. Denomination

A division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations into a single legal and administrative body.

178. Ethnic Religion

A religion that is relatively concentrated spatially, the principles of which are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated.

179. Fundamentalism

Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, denomination, or sect).

180. Ghetto

A section of a city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic pressure.

181. Hierarchical religion

A religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control.

182. Intrafaith Boundary

The boundaries within a major religion.

183. Interfaith Boundary

boundaries between the world's major faiths.

184. Missionary

An individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion.

185. Monotheism

The doctrine or belief that there is only one God.

186. Pagan

A follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times.

187. Pilgrimage

A journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes.

188. Polytheism

The belief in or worship of more than one god.

189. Sect

A relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination.

190. Secularism

The principle of separation of the state from religious institutions.

191. Shamanism

A practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with a spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world.

192. Solstice

Astronomical event that happens twice each year when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun’s apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme.

193. Syncretic

A religion that combines several traditions.

194. Theocracy

A system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.

195. Universalizing religion

A religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location.

196. Apartheid

A policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race, notably practiced in South Africa from 1948 to 1994.

197. Balkanization

The process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities, often leading to fragmentation.

198. Balkanized

A small geographic area that could not successfully be organized into stable states due to multiple ethnicities with long-standing antagonisms toward each other.

199. Blockbusting

A process by which real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices because of fear that people of color will soon move into the neighborhood.

200. Centripetal force

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

201. Ethnic cleansing

A policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.

202. Ethnicity

Identity with a group of people who share the cultural traditions of a particular homeland or hearth.

203. Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group.

204. Ethnic Enclave

A place with a high concentration of an ethnic group that is distinct from those in the surrounding area.

205. Genocide

The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.

206. Nationalism

Loyalty and devotion to a particular nationality, often promoting the interests of a particular nation, especially with the aim of gaining and maintaining the nation's sovereignty over its homeland.

207. Nationality

Identity with a group of people who share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular country.

208. Race

Identity with a group of people descended from a common ancestor.

209. Racism

The belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

210. Sharecropper

A person who works fields rented from a landowner and pays the rent and repays loans by turning over to the landowner a share of the crops.

211. Triangular slave trade

A practice, primarily during the 18th century, in which European ships transported slaves from Africa to the Caribbean, molasses from the Caribbean to Europe, and trade goods from Europe to Africa.