AP Human Geography Unit 3 Vocabulary

Accent

How words sound when they are pronounced

Acculturation

Occurs when an ethnic group adopts the values and practices of the larger group that receives them while still maintaining valuable elements of their own culture

Adherents

Followers of a religion

Animism

The belief that non-living objects such as rivers, mountains, and the sun and moon possess spirits

Artifacts

Things that make up the material culture

Assimilation

When an ethnic group cannot be distinguished from its receiving group

Blue laws

Restrict certain activities on a Sunday

Buddhism

Universalizing religion created by Siddhartha about 600 BC from Hinduism

Built environment

The physical artifacts that humans have created and that form part of the landscape

Caste system

A rigid class structure

Centrifugal forces

Forces that divide a group of people or a region (Centrifugal f, fracture, force apart)

Centripetal forces

Forces that unify a group of people (Centripetal p, pull)

Charter group

The first group to establish cultural and religious customs in a space

Christianity

A monotheistic universalizing religion created by Jesus, followers believe that he is the son of God and the savior of humans

Colonialism

Imperialism by settling people on the land of another culture

Contemporary architecture

Utilizes multiple advances to create buildings that rotate, curve, and stretch the limit of size and height

Creole

A language combining three or more languages which is no longer a pidgin

Creolization

The process by which languages merge to form a new language

Culture

All of a group's learned behaviors, actions, beliefs, and objects

Cultural appropriation

The act of adopting traits, icons, or other elements of another culture

Culture complex

A series of interrelated traits such as the processes of steps and acceptable behavior guiding behavior related to greeting a person

Cultural convergence

Cultures becoming similar to each other and sharing more cultural traits, ideas, and beliefs

Cultural divergence

The idea that a culture may change over time as the elements of distance, time, physical separation, and technology create divisions and changes

Cultural hearth

The area in which a unique culture of a specific trait develops

Cultural Imprints

Visible cultural examples of ethnic groups who occupy or have occupied an area

Cultural landscape

The visible reflection of a culture

Cultural Norms

Rules and expectations of behavior and thoughts based on shared beliefs within a specific cultural or social group

Cultural patterns

Patterns consisting of related sets of cultural traits and complexes that create similar behaviors across space

Cultural realms

Large areas containing several cultural regions

Cultural relativism

The belief that a person's or a group's beliefs, values, norms, and practices are valid

Culture regions

Regions of the world determined by characteristics such as religion, language, and ethnicity

Cultural traits

Distinguishing qualities or characteristics of a culture

Dialect

Regional variations of a language

Diasporas

A group of people who are dispersed throughout the world, but retain their cultural, religious, or ethnic differences

Diffusion

The spread of information, ideas, behaviors, and other aspects of a culture from their hearths to wider areas

Expansion diffusion

The spread of cultural traits outward through exchange without migration

Contagious diffusion

When a cultural trait spreads continuously outward from its hearth through contact among people

Stimulus diffusion

When an underlying idea from a cultural hearth is adopted by another culture who modifies or rejects part of it

Hierarchical diffusion

The spread of culture outward from the most interconnected places, centers, or persons of wealth or influence

Reverse hierarchical diffusion

When a trait diffuses from a group of lower status to a group of higher status

Relocation

The spread of a culture and/or cultural traits by people who migrate and carry their cultural traits with them

Ethnic enclave

Clusters of people of the same culture

Ethnic group

A community or population made up of people who share the same cultural background or descent

Ethnic islands

Ethnic concentrations in rural areas

Ethnic Neighborhoods

Ethnic neighborhoods in urban settings, often occupied by migrants who settle in a charter group's former space

Ethnic religion

Belief traditions that emphasize strong cultural characteristics among their followers and rarely recruit new followers

Ethnicity

Based on group cultural traits ex: Russian Jews

Ethnocentrism

Believing your cultural group is more important than and superior to other groups

Extinct language

A language that was once used by people, but is no longer used

Folk Culture

The beliefs and practices of a small homogenous culture

Fundamentalism

An attempt to follow a literal interpretation of a religious faith

Global culture

Popular culture which has been adopted worldwide

Globalization

The increased integration of the world economy since the 1970s

Glocalization

A form of syncretism that involves the creation of products or services for the global market

Heterogeneous

Exhibiting different or varied characteristics or traits

Hinduism

Ethnic religion with origins in the Indus River Valley about 2,000 BCE, belief that there are 4 goals in life, karma, artha, dharma, and moksha

Homogenous

Having the same characteristics or traits

Imperialism

A variety of ways of influencing another country or group of people b direct conquest, economic control, or cultural dominance

Indigenous culture

Occurs when members of an ethnic group reside in their ancestral lands and typically possess unique cultural traits

Indo-European language family

A large group of languages that might have descended from a language spoken 6, 000 years ago

Islam

A monotheistic universalizing religion Founded by the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE, the holy book is the Quran

Isogloss

Variations in pronunciations or word usage, an imaginary line where pronunciations and usages change

Judaism

A monotheistic ethnic religion created by Abraham in the middle east during the bronze age

Karma

The belief that one's actions have consequences in the present life and in future ones

Language families and sub-families

Groupings of languages which are descended from a common ancestral language

Language tree

A pictorial representation showing the relationship between language families including how they are related to each other and how one language might grown from another

Lingua franca

A common language used by people who do not share the same native language

Linguist

Scientists who study languages

Material culture

Consists of tangible things which can be experienced by the senses

Mentifacts

Consists of things that make up the non-material culture

Monotheistic

Worshipping one god

Multiculturalism

Possessing more than one distinct cultural identity or ethnic group

Nationality

Based on a person's connection to a particular country ex: Russians

Native speakers

Those who use the language learned from birth

Nativism

Anti-immigrant attitudes from among the cultural majority

Neolocalism

The process of re-embracing the uniqueness and authenticity of a place

Non-material culture

Part of the cultural landscape that cannot be touched

Official language

One designated by law to be the language of government

Pidgin

A simplified mixture of two languages

Pilgrimage

A journey to a place considered to be religiously sacred

Placelessness

Occurs when many modern cultural landscapes exhibit a great deal of homogeneity in culture, architecture, and socioeconomic status

Polytheistic

Worshipping many gods

Popular Culture

Cultural traits which have spread quickly over a large area and have been adopted by various groups within a society

Post Modern architecture

Developed after the 1960s. It followed boxy, mostly concrete or brick structures

Reincarnation

A future or second life

Revived Language

A language which experienced near or complete extinction, but which has intentionally been revived

Romance language

The languages that diverged from Latin

Sacred space

Specific places and natural features with religious significance

Sequent occupancy

Occurs as ethnic groups move in and out of neighborhoods creating cultural imprints which remain as new ethnic groups move in

Sharia

System of Islamic governmental law

Sikhism

A monotheistic universalizing religion created by Guru Nanak in the fifteenth century CE

Slang

Words used informally by a segment of the population

Social constructs

Ideas, concepts, or perceptions that have been created and accepted by people in a society or social group

Sociofacts

The way people organize their society and relate to one another

Syncretism

The fusion or blending of two distinct cultural traits into a unique new hybrid trait

Taboo

Behavior heavily discouraged by a culture

Theocracy

Countries whose governments are run by religious leaders through the use of religious laws

Time-space convergence

The greater interconnection between places that results from improvements in transportation

Traditional culture

Shared experiences passed down from one generation to the next

Traditional architecture

A style which reflects a local culture's history, beliefs, values, and community adaptations to the environment