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AP Human Geography Language Unit Flashcards

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7857111855CultureSum of all the typical activities of a group of people (how a group lives) -values -material items -institutions (government, religion, etc)0
78571118566 Official Languages of the UNEnglish, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, & Mandarin -EU however has 23 official language (wants to acknowledge every culture there)1
7857111857Languagesystematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventional signs, gestures, marks, or especially articulate vocal sounds\ -VOCALIZATION IS CRUCIAL (esp. if discussing humans) -examples: Tamil, math, music, dancing, Cantonese, Flemish, etc.2
7857111858Why is language at the heart of culture?without language- culture can not be transmitted -Sans la langue, la culture ne peut pas se transmettre3
7857111859What is literary tradition?A system of writing- helps cultural continuity -Mandarin=oldest "surviving" writing system -ideograms (characters/symbols vs. alphabets (letters) -invention of printing press helps spread literacy (1439)4
7857111860Approximately, how many languages are spoken today?It is estimated that between 4000 to 8000 different languages are spoken today5
7857111861Language familyCollection of related languages with a common history with a "prehistoric" ancestor (most broad language category)6
7857111862The language families-indo-European -Sino-Tibetan -Afro-asiatic -Niger-Congo -austronesian -Dravidian (Altaic & Uralic, etc.)7
7857111863Indo-EuropeanLargest language family- (Western Hemisphere, Europe, India) -English, German, Hindi, all the Romance languages, Russian, Farsi, Greek, Hindi8
7857111864Sino-Tibetan2nd largest language family -mandarin, Thai; Cantonese, Burmese9
7857111865Afro-asiatic3rd largest language family (tied with Niger-Congo) North Africa/ middle east -Arabic, Hebrew, Somali, Berber10
7857111870Language BranchCollection of related languages with a common "ancient" ancestor11
7857111871Language Group-common "modern" ancestor with similar vocabulary and grammar -ex. West Germanic vs. North Germanic -English is West Germanic12
7857111872Individual LanguageThis final step of the Language classification -ex. English, German, Dutch, etc.13
7857111873Give an example of the language classification of EnglishA. Indo-European→B. Germanic→C.West Germanic→D.English→E. Northern/Southern dialect, etc.14
7857111874Dialect"Regional" variation of a language Standard Language should really be called standard dialect15
7857111875"Standard Language"-Should really be called "Standard dialect" -well established & widely recognized as the most acceptable for the government, business, & mass communication -sets the quality, which is the matter of cultural identity and national concern16
7857111876American vs. British English-mostly lower/middle class immigrants left Britain to go to the newly-created United States not those speaking BRP -American English has different phrases/expressions b/c of new things experienced in America -Also, some words were borrowed from Native Americans -Because of time and isolation, due to written communication, pronunciation is considerably different (Time-Distance Decay!!)17
7857111877Isoglossword-usage boundary or map which shows regional variations & pronunciation18
7857111878Mandarin1. World's most spoken 2. One of the oldest written languages 3. many dialects which are mutually unintelligible 1. Has highest % of people who speak it as a primary lang. (English=2nd place)19
7857111879Official LanguageIn multilingual countries the language selected often by the educated and politically powerful elite, to promote internal cohesion; usually the language of the courts and government20
7857111880Languages of Africa-Most are pre-literate (only spoken) -largest language family- Niger-Congo -Largest Branch- Bantu (Swahili)21
7857111881Esperanto-Language which was created as a project by L.L. Zamenhof in hopes to create a world language- late 19th century -an attempt to unify/globalize multilingual Europe22
7857111882Lingua FrancaLanguage used when conducting business- facilitates international communication (any common language spoken by peoples with different native tongues)23
7857111883PidginNOT A LANGUAGE -created out of a mixture of other language as a means of communication between speakers of different tongues -simplified mixture/hybrid -learned as a 2nd language (NO NATIVE SPEAKERS) -AKA "contact language" -ex. "Chinglish" "Spanglish" "Konglish" -common in Caribbean region -English and African languages combine to form a pidgin English24
7857111884Creole & Creolization-A combination of languages that is stable over time AND has complex grammar and vocabulary -often a mix of dominant colonial language & an indigenous language EX: -Afrikaans- Dutch and Bantu languages in S. Africa -Gullah/Geechee- pidgin of English and W. African in Georgia and South Carolina -Jamaican Patois- English and W. African in Jamaica -French Creole- French/Spanish/African in Louisiana -Macanese- Cantonese/Portuguese/Sinhalese/Malay Can a Language be both a Creole and a Lingua Franca? Yes- Swahili for example25
7857111885Pop vs. Folk CulturePop Culture- changes from time to time Folk Culture- changes from place to place26
7857111886Pop Culture-large dispersed groups -heterogeneous groups (ethnicities, religion, etc.) -found in higher level of development (MDCs) -changes quickly and often -dispersed- global scale -modern societies with large amounts of interaction with other -ex. Wearing jeans, driving a Honda, eating McDonald's, etc.27
7857111887Folk Culture-small, isolated groups -homogeneous groups (ethnicities, religions, etc.) -lower levels of economic development typically (LDCs) -resists & slow to change -traditional societies with little interaction with other groups -ex. wearing a Sari or Burka, driving a horse & buggy, eating different parts of an animal or eating insects28
7857111888Cultural hearth of Pop Culture-CORE/MDCs -From where do most movies people watch come from? Hollywood vs. Bollywood29
7857111889Cultural Hearths of Folk CultureIn one or multiple hearths, often anonymously -ex. Who was the first Hula dancer in Hawaii?30
7857111890Diffusion in Pop vs. Folk Culture-Pop Culture- hierarchically- often through celebrities and major urban centers then goes to contagious diffusion (ex. movie premiers in NYC, LA, London, etc. -Folk Culture- Relocation, through physical movement of the people (ex. movement of the Amish to other parts of the United States)31
7857111891How is local diversity sometimes maintained with folk culture?-Isolation- keeps folks from changing too much hold on to traditional values, reject economic and culture imperialism of the West -Physical environment limits some choices of how people can survive (but remember, Possibilism!)32
7857111892CustomAny repetitive act of a group33
7857111893More Pop culture characteristics...-secular -individualistic (me not we) -more promiscuous -women's rights -provocative clothing -nuclear family (only direct family) -wood and brick homes -TV/Internet readily available34
7857185439Agricultural Theory(Sedentary Farmer)one theory of the diffusion of Indo-European Language; began in Central Turkey and spread 11 miles per generation (approx 25 years) because of agricultural technology (everyone learned Indo-European language in order to learn how to use the new technology); this theory agrees with the Renfrew (Anatolian) hypothesis35
7857186591Conquest theory (Nomadic Warrior)Theory that has the most support in the community and it also supports the Kurgan Hypothesis; believes that Indo-European began in Ukraine and the peoples settled in this area were the first to ride horses which allowed them to conquer other peoples easily thus spread Indo-European36
7857214802Monolingualsocieties that use one language ex: Japan, Venezuela, Portugal, Poland, and Iceland37
7857222187ToponymThe study of names of places like towns, cities, states, countries, stadiums, streets etc.38
7857224233isolated languageA language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language family39

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