Human Geography Ch4

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acculturation

Back 1

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

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animism

Back 2

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

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artifact

Back 3

any item that represents a material aspect of culture

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Buddhism

Back 4

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

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caste system

Back 5

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 thru their actions, or karma. after many lives of good karma, they may be relieved from cycle of life and win their place in heaven

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Christianity

Back 6

the world's most widespread religion. it is a monotheistic, universal religion that uses missionaries to expand its members worldwide.

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creole

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

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cultural complex

Back 8

the group of traits that define a particular culture

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cultural extinction

Back 9

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

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cultural geography

Back 10

the subfield of human geography that looks at how cultures vary over space

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cultural hearth

Back 11

locations on earth's surface where specific culture first arose

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cultural imperialism

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the dominance of one culture over another

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cultural trait

Back 13

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

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culture

Back 14

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

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custom

Back 15

practices followed by the people of a particular cultural group

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denomination

Back 16

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

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dialect

Back 17

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

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diaspora

Back 18

people who come from a common ethnic background but who live in different regions outside the home of their ethnicity

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ecumene

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the proportion of earth inhabited by humans

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environmental determinism

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

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ethnic cleansing

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

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ethnic neighborhood

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

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ethnic religion

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religion that is udentified with a particular ethnic or tribal group that does not seek new converts

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ethnicity

Back 24

refers to a group of people who share a cmmen identity

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evangelical religions

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

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folk culture

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

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fundamentalism

Back 27

the strict adherence to a particular doctrine

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genocide

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a premeditated effort to kill everyone from a particular ethnic group

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ghetto

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a segregated ethnic area within a city

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global religion

Back 30

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

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Hinduism

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

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indo-european family

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language family including the germanic and romance languages that is spoken by about 50% of the world

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Islam

Back 33

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

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Judaism

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the first major monotheistic religion. it is based on a sense of ethnic identity, and its adherents tend to form tight-knit communities wherever they live

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language extinction

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

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language family

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

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language group

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a set of language with a relatively common origin and many similar characteristics

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lingua franca

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

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literacy

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the ability to read and write

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local religion

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religions that are spiritually bound to particular regions

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minority

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

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missionary

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

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monotheism

Back 43

the worship of only one god

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multicultural

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having to do with many cultures

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official language

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language in which all government business occurs in a country

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pidgin

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

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pilgrimage

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a journey to a place of religious importance

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polytheism

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the worship of more than one god

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pop culture

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dynamic culture based in large, heterogebeous 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; and producing and consuming machine-made goods

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race

Back 50

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

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romance languages

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any of the languages derived from latin including italian, spanish, french, and romanian

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shaman

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

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sino-tibetan family

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language area that spreads thru most of southeast asia and china and is comprised od chinese, burmese, tibetan, japanese, and korean

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syncretic

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traditions that borrow from both the past and the present

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toponym

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

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tradition

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a cohesive collection of customs within a cultural group

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universalizing religions

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religion that seeks to unite people from all over the globe