Unit 3: Culture Flashcards
Acculturation
the adoption by an ethnic group of enough of the ways of the host society to be able to function
economically and socially
Assimilation
the complete blending of an ethnic group into the host society, resulting in the loss of all distinctive ethnic traits
Cultural maladaptation
poor or inadequate adaptation that occurs when a group pursues an adaptive
strategy that, in the short run, fails to provide the necessities of life or, in the long run, destroys the environment
that nourishes it
Cultural core
the territorial nucleus from which a country grows in area and over time, often containing the
national capital and the main center of commerce, culture, and industry.
Cultural periphery
a concept based on the tendency of both formal and functional culture regions to consist of
a core or node, in which defining traits and purest or functions are headquartered, and a periphery that is
tributary and displays fewer of the defining traits.
Cultural ecology
broadly defined, the study of the relationships between the physical environment and culture;
narrowly defined, the study of culture as an adaptive system that facilitates human adaptation to nature and
environmental change
Cultural landscape
the artificial landscape; the visible human imprint on the land.
Best example is religious buildings
Culture
a total way of life held in common by a group of people, including such learned features as speech,
ideology, behavior; livelihood, technology, and government; or the local, customary way of doing things- a way
of life; an ever-changing process in which a group is actively engaged; a dynamic mix of symbols, beliefs,
speech, and practices
Adaptive strategies
the unique way in which each culture uses its particular physical environment; those
aspects of culture that serve to provide the necessities of life- food, clothing, shelter, and defense
folk architecture
architecture that comes from the collective memory of groups of traditional people. These buildings are based not on blueprints but on mental images that change little from one generation to the next
and use locally available raw materials
Folk culture
a small cohesive, stable, isolated, nearly self-sufficient group that is homogeneous in custom and
race; characterized by a strong family or clan structure, order maintained through sanctions based in the
religion or family, little division of labor other than that between the sexes, frequent and strong interpersonal
relationships, and a material culture consisting mainly of a handmade goods.
Folk
traditional, rural; the opposite of “popular”
Folklore
traditional customs, tales, sayings, dances, or art forms preserved among a people
Material culture
all physical, tangible objects made and used by members of a cultural group, such as
clothing, buildings, tools and utensils, instruments, furniture, and artwork; the visible aspect of culture.
Nonmaterial culture
the wide range of tales, songs, lore, beliefs, superstitions, and customs that passes from
generation to generation as part of an oral or written tradition
Popular culture
a dynamic culture based in large, heterogeneous societies permitting considerable
individualism, innovation, and change; having a money-based economy, division of labor into professions,
secular institutions of control, and weak interpersonal ties; producing and consuming machine-made goods
Survey pattern
a pattern of original land survey in an area
Creole
a language derived from a pidgin that has acquired a fuller vocabulary and become the native
language of its speakers
Must have native speakers and syntax to become an official language
Dialect
a distinctive local or regional variant of a language that remains mutually intelligible to speakers of
other dialects of that language; a subtype of a language
Isogloss
the border of usage of an individual word or pronunciation
Language
a mutually agreed-upon system of symbolic communication that has a spoken and usually a
written expression
Language family
a group of related languages derived from a common ancestor
Indo-European is the largest because of lingua francas
Sino-Tibetan is the largest due to native population size
Lingua franca
an existing, well-established language of communication and commerce used widely where it is
not a mother tongue
Ex. Spanish in Latin America
Can also be created, like Swahili
Linguistic refuge area
an area protected by isolation or inhospitable environmental conditions in which a
language or dialect has survived
