Cultural Geography

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Words

Definitions

acculturation

the adoption of cultural traits, such as language, by one group under the influence of another

animism

most prevalent in Africa and the Americas, doctrine in which the world is seen as being infused with spiritual and even supernatural powers

artifact

any item that represents a material aspect of culture

Buddhism

system of belief that seeks to explain ultimate realities for all people-such as the nature of suffering and the path toward self realization

caste system

system in India that gives every Indian a particular place in the social hierarchy from birth. Individuals may improve the position they inherit in the caste system in their next life through their actions, or karma.

Christianity

the world's most widespread religion. Christianity is a monotheistic, universal religion that uses missionaries to expand it's members world wide. The three major categories of Christianity are Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox

creole

a pidgin language that evolves to the point at which it becomes the primary language of the people who speak it

cultural complex

the group of traits that defines a particular culture

cultural extinction

obliteration of an entire culture by war, disease, acculturation, or a combination of the three

cultural geography

the subfield of human geography that looks at how culture spreads over time

cultural hearth

locations on earth's surface where specific cultures first arose

cultural trait

the specific customs that are part of the everyday life of a particular culture, such as language, religion, ethnicity, social institutions , and aspects of popular culture

culture

a total way of life held in common by a group of people, including learned features such as language, ideology, behavior, technology, and government

denomination

a particular religious group, usually associated with differing Protestant belief systems

dialect

geographically distinct versions of a single language that vary somewhat from the parent form

diaspora

people who come from a common ethic background but who live in different belief systems

ecumene

the proportion of the earth inhabited by humans

environmental determinism

a doctrine that claims that cultural traits are formed and controlled by environmental conditions

ethnic cleansing

the systematic attempt to remove all people for a particular ethnicity from a country or region either by forced migration or genocide

ethnic neighborhood

an area within a city containing members of the same ethnic background

ethnic religion

religion that is identified with a particular ethic or tribal group and that does not seek new converts

ethnicity

refers to a group of people who share a common identity

evangelical religions

religion in which an effort is made to spread a particular belief system

folk culture

refers to a constellation of cultural practices that form sights, smells, sounds, and rituals of everyday existence in the traditional societies in which they developed

fundamentalism

the strict adherence to a particular doctrine

genocide

a a premeditated effort to kill everyone from a particular ethnic group

ghetto

a segregated ethnic area within a city

global religion

religion in which members are numerous and widespread and their doctrines might appeal to different people from any region of the globe

hinduism

a cohesive and unique society, most prevalent in India, that integrates spiritual beliefs with daily practices and official institutions such as the caste system

Indo-European Family

language family including he Germanic and Romance languages that is spoken by about 50% if the world's population

Islam

a monotheistic religion based on the belief that there is one God, Allah, and the Muhammad was Allah's prophet. Islam is based in the ancient city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Muhammad

Judaism

the 1st major monotheistic religion. It is based on a sense of ethnic identity, and its adherents tends to form tight-knit communities, wherever they live

language extinction

this occurs when a language is no longer in use by any living people. Thousands of languages have become extinct over the eons since languages first developed, but the process of language extinction has accelerated greatly during the past 300 years

language family

a collection of may languages, all which came from the same origin tongue long ago, that have since evolved different characteristics

language group

a set of languages with relatively recent common origin and many similar characteristics

lingua franca

an extremely simple language that combines aspects of two or more other, more-complex languages usually used for quick efficient communication

literacy

the ability to read and write

local religion

religions that are spiritually bound t particular regions

minority

a racial or ethnic group smaller than and differing from the majority race or ethnicity in a particular area or region

missionary

a person of a particular faith that travels in order to recruit new members into the faith represented

monotheism

the worship of only one god

multicultural

having to do with may cultures

official language

language in which all government business occurs in a country

pidgin

language that may develop when two groups of people with different languages meet. The pidgin has some characteristics of each language

pilgrimage

a journey to a place of religious importance

polytheism

the worship of more than one god

pop culture (or popular culture)

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

race

a group of human being distinguished by physical trains, blood types, genetic code patterns or genetically inherited characteristics

romance languages

any languages derived from latin including Italian, Spanish, French, and Romanian

shaman

the single person who takes on the roles of priest, counselor, and physician and acts as a conduit to the supernatural world in a shamanist culture

Sino-Tibetan family

language area that spreads through most of Southeast Asia and China and is comprised of Chinese, Burmese, Tibetan, Japanese, and Korean

syncretic

traditions that are borrow from both the past and present

toponym

place names given to certain features on the land such as settlements, terrain features, and streams