AP Human Geo AMSCO CHAPTER 7 Historical and Contemporary Processes of Diffusion Im

Imperialism

A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Colonialism

Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.

Native speakers

people for whom a particular language is their first language

lingua franca

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

pidgin language

When parts of two or more languages are combined in a simplified structure and vocabulary

Creole language

a language that began as a pidgin language but was later adopted as the mother tongue by a people in a place of the mother tongue

Social constructs

Ideas, concepts, or perceptions that have been created and accepted by people in a society or social group and are not created by nature

Time-space convergence

rate at which places move closer together in travel or communication time or costs

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 likelihood or tendency for cultures to become increasingly dissimilar with the passage of time.

Linguists

scientists who study languages

Language Tree

a representation of the relationships of languages to each other

Indo-European language family

Language family including the Germanic and Romance languages that is spoken by 50% of the world's people

Romance languages

Any of the languages derived from Latin including Italian, Spanish, French, and Romanian.

Isoglosses

Geographical boundary lines where different linguistic features meet.

Dialects

variants of a standard language along regional or ethnic lines

Adages

sayings that attempt to express a truth about life

Toponyms

place names

official language

The language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents.

homogenous society

society that has a common culture and language

adherents

believers, followers

Ethnic religions

Religions found among people of one ethnic group and that generally have not spread into other cultures

Universal Religion

actively seeks converts to its faith regardless of their ethnic backgrounds

Polytheistic

Belief in many gods

Monotheistic

Belief in one God

Karma

the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation

Caste System

a set of rigid social categories that determine not only a person's occupation and economic potential, but also his or her position in society

Gurdwara

Sikh place of worship

Pilgrimage

a journey to a sacred place

Acculturation

The adoption of cultural traits, such as language, by one group under the influence of another.

Assimilation

the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another

Syncretism

a blending of beliefs and practices from different religions into one faith

Glocalization

the process of companies standardizing their products globally, but using different promotional campaigns to sell them

Multiculturalism

the coexistence of several cultures in one society, with the ideal of all cultures being valued and worthy of study

Nativism

anti-immigrant attitude, sometimes bringing violence or government action against a minority group