unit 3(culture patterns and processes)

• Acculturation


  (n.) the modification of the social patterns, traits, or structures of one group or society by contact with those of another; the resultant blend
• Assimilation


  the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another
• animism


  Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.
• centrifugal force


  a force that divides people and countries
• Centripetal forces


  help to politically unify as a cohesive and stable entity
• Contagious Diffusion

  The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population.
• Creolization

  The blending of African, European, and some Amerindian cultural elements into the unique sociocultural systems found in the Caribbean.
• culture hearth

  a center where cultures developed and from which ideas and traditions spread outward
• culture complex


  a unique combination of culture traits for a particular culture group
• culture realm

  A cluster of regions in which related culture systems prevail.
• cultural convergence


  contact and interaction of one culture and another
• cultural divergence


  the restriction of a culture from outside influences
• cultural landscape

  the visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape
• cultural relativism


  the practice of judging a culture by its own standards
• custom


  The frequent repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group of people performing the act.
• dialect


  A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.
• diaspora


  A dispersion of people from their homeland
• ethnic region

  Formal region of a certain ethnicity
• ethnicity


  Identity with a group of people that share distinct physical and mental traits as a product of common heredity and cultural traditions.
• Ethnocentrism

  Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.
• Expansion Diffusion

  The spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in a snowballing process.
• Fundamentalism


  Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, denomination, or sect).
• globalization

  Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.
• Hiearchal diffusion


  The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places
• Imperialism


  A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
• indigenous

  native
• isogloss

  A boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate.
• isolated languages


  A language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language family.
• language family

  A collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history.

  
• lingua franca


  A language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages
• monotheism

  Belief in one God
• multiculturalism

  A perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions
• nationality

  Identity with a group of people that share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular place as a result of being born there.
• nativist


  a person who favors those born in his country and is opposed to immigrants
• Neolocalism


  The seeking out of the regional culture and reinvigoration of it in response to the uncertainty of the modern world.
• offical language

  the language adopted for use by the government for conduct of busimess and publication of documents
• 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.
• Polytheism


  Belief in many gods
• relocation diffusion

  The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another.
• sense of place


  State of mind derived through the infusion of a place with meaning and emotion by remembering important events that occurred in that place or by labeling a place with a certain character.