AP HuGe Chapter 7 Vocab

Imperialism

A broader concept that includes a variety of ways of influencing another country or group of people by direct conquest, economic control, or cultural dominance.

Colonialism

A particular type of imperialism in which people move into and settle on the land of another country.

Animism

Before European colonization, most religions practiced by the native indigenous people of Africa and North America were forms of…

Native Speakers

Those who use the language learned from birth.

Lingua Franca

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

Slang

Words used informally by a segment of the population.

Pidgin Language

A simplified mixture of two languages.

Creole Language

Over time, two or more separate languages can mix and develop a more formal structure and vocabulary so that they are no longer a pidgin language. They create a new combined language, known as a…

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

The greater interconnection between places that results from improvements in transportation is called… (It often makes places less culturally distinct.)

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 modern technology create divisions and changes.

Linguists

Scientists who study languages, have differing theories as to when humans first began communicating through spoken sounds.

Language Tree

Suggests how several languages are related to each other, as well as how one language grows out of another.

Indo-European Language Family

A collection of hundreds of related languages and dialects that all descend from a single prehistoric common ancestor called Proto-Indo-European.

Romance Languages

The unifying language of Latin diverged into dozens of distinct regional languages, known as…

Isoglosses

The boundaries between variations in pronunciations or word usage are called…

Dialects

Variations in accent, grammar, usage, and spelling create… (or regional variations of a language.)

Adages

Sayings that attempt to express a truth about life, such as "the early bird gets the worm.”

Toponyms

The names of places.

Official Language

One designated by law to be the language of government.

Homogenous

Some countries made up largely of ethnically similar people, such as in Iceland, Japan, or Slovenia.

Adherents

Believers in their faith.

Ethnic Religions

Belief traditions that emphasize strong cultural characteristics among their followers.

Universal Religions

Actively seeks converts to its faith regardless of their ethnic backgrounds.

Hinduism

One of the world's oldest ethnic religions (an identity-based faith tied to a specific culture and region) centered in the Indian Subcontinent.

Polytheistic

Having many gods.

Monotheistic

Having one god.

Karma

The idea that behaviors have consequences in the present life or a future life-and in dharma-which means the righteous path.

Caste System

A rigid class structure, that shaped Indian society.

Buddhism

Classified as a universalizing religion—a faith that attempts to appeal to all people globally rather than being restricted to a specific culture or location.

Sikhism

A monotheistic, universalizing religion founded in the 15th-century Punjab region of South Asia by Guru Nanak.

Gurdwara

A Sikh's place of worship.

Judaism

An ethnic monotheistic religion originating in the Eastern Mediterranean/Levant (~4,000 years ago) that is tied closely to the history, culture, and ethnic identity of the Jewish people rather than actively seeking global converts.

Christianity

Classified as a universalizing religion—a monotheistic belief system that appeals to people globally regardless of ethnicity, actively seeks converts, and diffuses widely from its point of origin.

Islam

A universalizing (proselytic) monotheistic Abrahamic religion founded in the 7th century CE in Mecca by the Prophet Muhammad.

Pilgrimage

A religious journey taken by a person to a sacred place of his or her religion.

Homogenization

Making people of different places more alike.

Acculturation

Often, an ethnic or immigrant group moving to a new area adopts the values and practices of the larger group that has received them, while still maintaining valuable elements of their own culture.

Assimilation

When an ethnic group can no longer be distinguished from the receiving group.

Syncretism

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

Globalization

A form of syncretism that involves the creation of products or services for the global market by adapting them to local cultures.

Nativist

Also known as anti-immigrant, attitudes may form among the cultural majority, sometimes bringing violence and government actions against the immigrant or minority group.