APHG Unit 3 Vocab

CULTURE

The shared practices, technologies, attitudes, and behaviors transmitted by a society

PERCEPTUAL REGION

Borders that people define based on feelings and prejudices, and are apart of their cultural identity. There are no physical borders and they vary from person to person (the Northeast)

FOLK CULTURE

(Also Local/Indigenous Culture) Small heterogenous (diverse) groups that are typically in rural areas that are less welcoming to change
Diffuse through relocation

POP CULTURE

Large heterogenous (diverse) groups that are often in urban areas that are globalized through the internet
Diffuse through contagious and hierarchical

CULTURAL TRAIT

Food preferences, architecture, and land use

CULTURAL RELATIVISM

unbiased and leads to understanding/learning new cultures

ETHNOCENTRISM

biased with the view that one’s culture is superior to another

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Combinations of physical features, agricultural and industrial practices, religious and linguistic characteristics

SEQUENT OCCUPANCY

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

TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE

traditional building style of different cultures, religions and places

POST-MODERN ARCHITECTURE

curved forms, decorative elements, asymmetry, bright colours

BUILT ENVIRONMENT

The man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity

SENSE OF PLACE

A concept on how people define and recognize locations in their mind through emotional connections

PLACELESSNESS

the loss of uniqueness of place in the cultural landscape so that one place looks like the next

CENTRIPETAL FORCE

an attitude that unifies people and enhances support for a state, a force that unites a country and keep it together

CENTRIFUGAL FORCE

an attitude that divides people, a force that divides a country and breaks it apart

RELOCATION DIFFUSION

When an idea/trait diffuses by those followers physically relocating away from the hearth

CREOLIZATION

The blending of two languages that form one new language

PIDGIN

Simplified means of communication between two groups that do not share a common language, no native speaker since it's not an actual language
(Ex. Spanglish)

LINGUA FRANCA

A language adopted as universal between speakers of different languages
(Ex. English globally, Russian in Eastern Europe)

SYNCRETISM

The blending of two cultures to form a new trait

COLONIALISM

One country exerting complete control physically over another

IMPERIALISM

One country exerting economic and political control over another, formally or informally

LINGUISTIC IMPERIALISM

Promoting and imposing a language of a powerful society over a less powerful society.

GLOBALIZATION

The growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by international trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information

TIME-SPACE CONVERGENCE

the decline in travel time between geographical locations as a result of transportation, communication, and related technological and social innovations

ENDANGERED LANGUAGE

a language that is threatened with extinction

EXTINCT LANGUAGE

Once used by people in daily life but is no longer in use.

LANGUAGE DIVERGENCE

If two dialects become “mutually unintelligible” and two separate languages emerge
Occurs through separation, isolated time (Time Distance Decay)

LANGUAGE FAMILY

A collection of languages related through a common prehistoric ancestor (Indo-European)

LANGUAGE BRANCH

Collection of languages related through a common ancestral language that existed several thousands years ago (Branches of Indo-European family include: Germanic, Romance, Celtic, etc)

LANGUAGE GROUP

Collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and are more similar in grammar and vocabulary (In the Germanic Branch: West Germanic & North Germanic)

DIALECT

Regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation (Southern Dialect, New York Dialect, Midwestern Dialect)

HEARTH

The origin of a belief/trait/idea

INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY

The language family of English, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, French, etc)

TOPONYM

Place names (Can indicate migration history, values/aspirations, significant historical events, physical characteristics)

PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN

the theoretical common ancestor of languages in the Indo-European family, nothing is certain but linguists can hypothesize based on common words shared between languages
(Ex. share common words for winter and snow, not ocean=probably originated in cold inland climate)

UNIVERSALIZING RELIGION

Spread through hierarchical, contagious, and relocation diffusion
(Ex. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism)

ETHNIC RELIGION

Don't seek out converts, found near the hearth
Spread through relocation diffusion
(Ex. Hinduism, Judaism)

ASSIMILATION

the process through which people lose originally differentiating traits (dress, speech particularities/mannerisms) when they coming into contact with another (dominant) society or culture

ACCULTURATION

Adoption of cultural traits (language, dress, practices) by one group under the influence of another
(Ex. learning a new language, trying new food, etc)

MULTICULTURALSIM

Different cultures in the same society remaining distinct from each other rather than assimilating
(Ex. Asian-Americans, Turkish-Germans)

THE HAJJ

A pilgrimage in Islam, they travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia and practice their rituals. They circle seven times both ways around the Kaaba

Intrafaith conflict

Conflict between different religions
(Ex. India-Pakistan partition)

Interfaith conflict

Conflict between different groups of the same religion
(Ex. Sunni vs. Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia and Iran respectively)