AP Human Geography Unit 3 Vocabularu Flashcards
Acculturation
adoption of cultural traits, such as language, by one group under the influence of another
Architecture
the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings.
Artifacts
The material manifestation of culture, including tools, housing, systems of land use, clothing, etc. “What a culture uses”
Assimilation
the process of a person or group losing the cultural traits that made them distinct from the people around them
Branch
a major division within a religion
Caste System
a rigid set of social classes that provides privileges for the higher
classes and limits on the lower classes - a person is born in a
caste and castes only change upon reincarnation
Creole or creolized language
a language that began as a combination of two other languages and is spoken as the primary language of a group of people
Cultural convergence
when two cultures become more similar because of frequent interactions
Cultural divergence
when a culture splits into different cultures because of lack of interaction
Cultural relativism
the idea that a person’s beliefs, values, and practices should be
understood based on that person’s own culture, rather than be judged through the eyes of another culture
dialect
different forms of the same language used by groups that have
some different vocabulary and pronunciations
diaspora
the scattering of people from their homeland (especially the Jews from the Holy Land)
Indigenous (Folk/Ethnic) Culture
the cultural traditions that are generally held by a specific ethnic group, often localized in a specific area
Indigenous language
a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous people
Indigenous people
the original settlers of a given region, in contrast to groups that
have settled in the area more recently
Language extinction
a language that is no longer spoken by anyone as their native language
Language family
a collection of languages that are all descended from an original,
proto-language
Lingua franca
a language that groups of people who don’t speak the same
language used to communicate often for trade or business
Mentifacts
the central, enduring elements of a culture expressing its values
and beliefs, including language, religion, folklore, and etc. “What
a culture believes”
Multiculturalism
when various ethnic groups coexist with one another without
having to sacrifice their particular identities
Pilgrimage
a journey to a location that has religious significance
Secularism
a philosophy that interprets life on principles taken solely from the
material world, without recourse to religion.
Sense of place
a strong feeling of identity that is deeply felt by inhabitants and
visitors of a location
Sociofacts
the institutions and links between individuals and groups that unite
a culture, including family structure and political, educational and religious institutions. “What a culture does”
Syncretism
the blending traits from two different cultures to form a new trait
taboo
something that is forbidden by a culture or a religion, sometimes
so forbidden that it is often not even discussed
Universalizing religion
a religion that attempts to appeal to all people and has a worldwide
focus as opposed to a regional focus
Ethnic Religion
a religion that is focused on a single ethnic group (often in a
centralized area) that doesn’t attempt to appeal to all people
Ethnocentrism
judging people or traditions based on your own cultural standards
Gender
Cultural differences in the expectations of behavior by men and women in a specific society
