UNIT FOUR Vocab

Question 1

Accent: the manner in which people speak and the way words are pronounced in different parts of the world

Answer 1

My definition: the manner in which people speak and pronounce words in different parts of the world.

My example: My mother definitely has a moderately strong Dutch accent. My mother’s brother has a very strong Dutch accent when speaking English.

Question 2

Bilingual: Speaking two languages

Answer 2

My definition: Speaking two languages

My example: I am fluent in English, pretty good at Dutch, and decent in Spanish. Also, my mother is fluent in Dutch and English.

Question 3

BRP: British Received Pronunciation. The dialect of English associated with upper class Britons living in the London area now considered a standard

Answer 3

My definition: British Received Pronunciation is the dialect associated with upper class Britons that is now considered the standard

My example: There are many dialects in England but the dialect associated with upper class Britons living in London is now considered the standard

Question 4

Creole: a language that results from the mixing of a colonizer’s language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated

Answer 4

My definition: mixing of a colonizer’s language with the indigenous language

My example: The language Afrikaans adopted words from languages such as Portuguese, the Bantu languages, Malay, Khoisan languages, and mostly from Dutch.

Question 5

Dialect: A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation

Answer 5

My definition: distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation

My example: Dialects of German in the United States are Amish Swiss German, Texas German, Wisconsin High German, Swiss German, etc

Question 6

• *Ebonics:** a dialect spoken by some African Americans
• *Esperanto:** A made-up Latin-based language, which its European proponents in the early twentieth century hoped would become a global language.

Answer 6

**My definition: **

Ebonics is a dialect spoken by some African Americans

Esperanto is a Latin-based language which early 12th century proponents hoped to become a global language

**My example:** Ebonics is mostly commonly spoken today by urban working-class and largely 
bi-dialectal middle-class African Americans. Between 100,000 and 200,000 people fluently or actively speak Esperanto.

Question 7

Extinct language: A language that was once used by people in daily activities but is no longer used.

Answer 7

My definition: no longer used

My example: last native speaker of Klallam language died in February 2014

Question 8

Franglais: the widespread use of English in the French language. A term used by the French for English words that have entered the French language, a combination of franfais and anglai.” the French words for “French” and “English,” respectively.

Answer 8

My definition: the widespread use of English in the French language

My example: Examples of Franglais are…

Je suis tired - I am tired
Je ne care pas - I don’t care
J’agree - I agree

Question 9

• *Ideogram:** symbol that stands for a concept rather than a word
• *Isogloss:** A boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate

Answer 9

My definition:

Ideogram - stands for a concept than word

Isogloss - boundary that separates regions in which different language usages dominate

My example: Ideograms include the biohazard sign, the stop sign, and the wheelchair access sign

Question 10

• *Isolated language:** A language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language family.
• *Language:** A system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning

Answer 10

My definition:

Isolated language is unrelated to any other languages and language families

Language is a system of communication

**My Example: **Basque and Korean are commonly cited examples of isolated languages

Question 11

Language branch: A collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago. Differences are not as extensive or old as with language families, and archaeological evidence can confirm that these derived from the same family.

Answer 11

My definition: collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago

**My Example: **Indo-European branches are Indo-Iranian, Balto-Slavic, Germanic, and Italic

Question 12

• *Language family:** a collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history
• *Language group:** A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary.

Answer 12

My definition:

fam- collection of languages related through a common ancestor long before recorded history

group - collection of languages within a branch that share an origin relatively recent in the past

**My Example: **Language families are Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Niger-Congo, Altaic, etc. Language groups include Low Germanic and High Germanic

Question 13

Lingua Franca: A language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages

Question 14

• *linguistics:** study of language
• *literary tradition:** A language that is written as well as spoken
• *mono-lingual:** Speaking only one language.
• *multi-lingual:** Speaking several languages.

Answer 14

My definition:

lingu - study of language

lit tradition - written as well as spoken

mono - one language

multi - more than one language

**My Example: **Couple of my friends are mono-lingual but most of them are multi-lingual

Question 15

• *Official language:** The language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents.
• *Orthography:** the study of where languages are found/located

Answer 15

My definition:

official - adopted for use by the government

ortho - study of where languages are found/located

**My Example: **Orthographists would find that English is spoken nearly everywhere, especially in North America and West Europe

Question 16

Pidgin language: A form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua franca, used for communications among speakers of two different languages.

Answer 16

My Definition: simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua franca

**My Example: **Pidgin languages include Basque-Icelandic pidgin, Nigerian Pidgin, and Pidgin Hawaiian

Question 17

• *Spanglish:** Combination of Spanish and English, spoken by Hispanic-Americans.
• *Standard language:** The form of a language used for official government business, education, and mass communications.

Answer 17

**My definition: **

Spang - combo of English and Spanish

Standard lang - used for government, business, and education, and mass communications

My Example: Many students speak Spanglish in their Spanish classrooms. Standard Hindi and Urdu are India’s standard languages

Question 18

Toponym: the name by which a geographical place is known

Answer 18

**My definition: **name of a geo place

My Example: Highest mountain of the Himalayas is called Mt. Everest, or Sagarmatha in Nepal, or Chomolungma in Tibet

Question 19

• *Trade language:** A language used between native speakers of different languages to allow them to communicate so that they can trade with each other.
• *Vernacular:** the everyday speech of the people (as distinguished from literary language)

Answer 19

**My Definition: **

trade lang - allows different speakers to communicate so they can trade

vernacular - everyday speech of the people

My Example: English is a trade language in many international business meetings

Question 20

Animism: belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life

Answer 20

My definition: inanimate objects have discrete spirits and conscious lives

My Example: A movie example of animism is Avatar

Question 21

Autonomous religion: a religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally

Answer 21

My definition: religion that does not have a central authority

My Example: Judaism and Animisim are autonomous religions

Question 22

• *Branch:** a large and fundamental division within a religion
• *Caste:** the class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law

Answer 22

**My definition: **

branch - large division within religion

caste - distinct hereditary order

My Example: Islam made a formal split in 632, and Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church split officially in 1054.

Question 23

Cosmogony: a set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe

Answer 23

**My definition: **set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe

My Example: Steven Hawkings believe the universe started with a big bang. Others believe the Titans did. Others believe God made it so.

Question 24

• *Denomination:** a division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations in a single legal and administrative body
• *Diocese:** the basic unit of geographic organization in the Roman Catholic Church

Answer 24

My definition:

Deno - division of a branch that brings congregations into an administrative body

Dio - basic unit of geo organization in Roman Catholic Church

**My Example: **Denominations in the USA include Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, and Mormon. The Pope is also called the Diocese of Rome.

Question 25

Ethnic religion: a religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principle are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated

Answer 25

My definition: based on physical characteristics of the particular location of where adherents are concentrated

My Example: Hinduism in the Caribbean is considered an ethnic religion by some scholars.

Question 26

Fundamentalism: literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, denomination, or sect).

Answer 26

My definition: strict adherence to basic principles of a religion

My Example: Muslim extremists are often fundamentalists or rather they think themselves to be

Question 27

Ghetto: during the Middle Ages, a neighborhood in a city set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews; now used to denote a section of the city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic pressure

Answer 27

My definition: a neighborhood in a city to be inhabited only by Jews; now its where very poor minority groups live

My Example: Ghettos in Miami are probably filled with law-breakers, poor and homeless people, and minorities living in terrible condtions.

Question 28

Hierarchical religion: a religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control

Answer 28

My definition: central authority exercises a high degree of control

My Example: The Roman Catholic Church has a very rich and influential chain of religious command with the Pope on top

Question 29

• *Missionary:** an individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion
• *Monotheism:** the doctrine or belief of the existence of only one god
• *Pagan:** a follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times
• *Pilgrimage:** a journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes
• *Polytheism:** belief in or worship of more than one god

Sect: a relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination

Answer 29

**My definition: **

Missionary - who helps diffuse a religion

Monotheism - only one God

Pagan - follower of polytheistic religion

Pilgrimage - journey to a relgious sacred place

Polytheism - more than one god

Sect - small group broken away from an established denomination

My Example: The religious hotspot for Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike is Jerusalem. Roman Catholic sects include Palmarian Catholic Church, Community of the Lady of All Nations, and the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church.

Question 30

Universalizing/proselytic religion: a religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location, members try to convert others

Answer 30

My definition: religion that attempts to appeal to all people

My Example: Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism

Question 31

Interfaith boundaries: the boundaries between the world’s major faiths

Answer 31

My definition: boundaries between world’s major faiths

My Example: An example of an interfaith conflict that exists between several countries is in Africa, including Nigera and the Muslim inhabited zone north of its borders.

Question 32

• *Religious Exclave:** people practicing their religion who are physically separated from their religions hearth
• *Religious Enclave:** people with a particular religion surrounded by people with a different religion

Answer 32

**My definition: **

exclave - practicing religion outside religious hearths

enclave - people with a particular religion surrounded by people with a different religion

My Example: Many Muslims who don’t live in the Middle East are commonly found in the countries of Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. In America an example of a religious enclave would be Muslims surrounded by Christians.

Question 33

• *Sacred space:** location that holds spiritual significance for the faithful
• *Secularism:** the belief that religion should not play a role in government, school or public parts of society
• *Theocracy:** government based on religious principals and beliefs

Answer 33

My definition:

Sacred space - location holds spiritual significance

Secularism - church-state separation

Theocracy - government based on religious beliefs

My Example: Mecca is a sacred space for Muslims. Many early settlers of America, including the independent-minded Rhode Islanders believed in church-state separation. The Taliban held a theocracy before it was overthrown in 2001.