Unit 3- Language & Religion

Question 1

cultural landscape

Answer 1

the combination of physical features, agricultural and industrial practices, religious and linguistic characteristics, sequent occupancy, traditional and postmodern architecture, and land use patterns

Question 2

ethnocentrism

Answer 2

judging another culture based on the values of one’s own culture (language, religion, customs)

Question 3

cultural relativism

Answer 3

the idea that a person’s beliefs, values, and practices should be based on that person’s own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another

Question 4

centripetal force

Answer 4

forces that unite a country

Question 5

centrifugal force

Answer 5

forces that divide a country

Question 6

lingua franca

Answer 6

a language mutually understood by people who speak different languages, usually for the purpose of trade

Question 7

creolization

Answer 7

the blending of native and invading languages to create something new

Question 8

globalization

Answer 8

the process of increased interconnectedness among countries most notably in the areas of economics, politics, and culture

Question 9

space-time compression

Answer 9

the way in which improvements in transportation have reduced the friction of distance and permitted the very rapid diffusion of ideas across space

Question 10

cultural convergence

Answer 10

cultures become more alike as their interactions increase

Question 11

cultural divergance

Answer 11

the tendency for culture groups to disassociate from others in order to protect or preserve their culture from influence or change

Question 12

language

Answer 12

a spoken or written method of communication

Question 13

language family

Answer 13

a group of languages with a shared but fairly distant origin

Question 14

dialect

Answer 14

a variant of a standard language along regional or ethnic lines (differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, pace)

Question 15

conquest theory

Answer 15

theorizes that the source of the Indo-European language lay somewhere in the steppes of present-day Ukraine and Russia more than 5,000 years ago and spread by conquerors on horseback who moved westward

Question 16

agriculture theory

Answer 16

theorizes that the source of the Indo-European language lay somewhere in the mountainous terrain of Anatolia in modern Turkey between 7,000 and 9,000 years ago and spread with the diffusion of agriculture

Question 17

toponym

Answer 17

place-names that can uncover historical information about a place and its origins, such as the language of the original inhabitants and and succeeding settlement history and population dispersal

Question 18

assimilation

Answer 18

the process by which a group’s cultural features are altered to resemble those of another group

Question 19

acculturation

Answer 19

the process of changes in culture that result from the meeting of two groups; both groups retain their distinct cultural features

Question 20

syncretism

Answer 20

the combining elements of two groups into a new cultural feature

Question 21

sacred sites

Answer 21

areas/places that of religious/spiritual significance, including cathedrals, mosques, temples, churches, and cemeteries

Question 22

ethnic religion

Answer 22

religions that do not actively seek converts and are generally found near the hearth or spread through relocation diffusion
- hinduism, judiasm

Question 23

hinduism

Answer 23

• oldest major religion found in India, can’t be traced
• based on belief in reincarnation
• spread by expansion diffusion through india
• spread by relocation diffusion to other countries

Question 24

judaism

Answer 24

• founded by abraham
• believed to be the first monotheistic religion
• spread by relocation diffusion as a result of the diaspora
• many jews relocated back to isreal in the 1940s

Question 25

diaspora

Answer 25

the scattering of the jews from their homeland by the romans

Question 26

animism

Answer 26

- humans oldest religion - based on the belief that all things in nature have spirits and should be preserved - found among native americans and traditional africans and other indigenous groups around the world

Question 27

universalizing religion

Answer 27

religions that actively seek converts because they view themselves as offering belief systems of universal applicability and appeal - buddhism, christianity, islam, sikhism

Question 28

buddhism

Answer 28

- founded by siddhartha gautama in india - lost following in india, became most widespread in east asia - spread by relocation diffusion to east asia - spread by expansion diffusion in individual countries in east asia

Question 29

christianity

Answer 29

- roots in judaism, founded in sw asia and based on the teachings of Jesus - spread by relocation and expansion diffusion - three branches: roman catholics, protestants, and eastern orthodox

Question 30

islam

Answer 30

- roots in judaism, founded in sw asia and based on the belief that there is one God and Muhammad is his prophet - spread by expansion and relocation diffusion - two major branches: sunni and shia

Question 31

sikhism

Answer 31

- religion with roots in islam and hinduism - founded in northern india - based on teachings of guru nanak - spread by expansion and relocation diffusion