Glossary of Geography and Anthropology Terms PDF

Custom: Frequent repetition of an act until it becomes characteristic of a group of people Ecumene: Land that is permanently populated by human society Local/indigenous/Folk culture: Traditionally practiced by a small homogenous, rural group living in relative isolation. Habit: Repetitive act per...

Custom: Frequent repetition of an act until it becomes characteristic of a group of people Ecumene: Land that is permanently populated by human society Local/indigenous/Folk culture: Traditionally practiced by a small homogenous, rural group living in relative isolation. Habit: Repetitive act performed by an individual Popular/global culture: Found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in personal characteristics Taboo: a restriction on behavior imposed by social custom Creole Language(s): A language that results from the mixing of a colonizers language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated Dialect: Variants of a standard language along regional or ethnic lines Isogloss: Boundary lines on a map showing where certain languages or dialects are spoken. 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 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. Logogram: A symbol that represents a word rather than a sound Official language: The language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business 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. Agnosticism: Belief that nothing can be known about whether God exists Animism: Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life. Atheism: Belief that God does not exist Branch (of religion): A large and fundamental division within a religion Denomination: A division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations into a single legal and administrative body. Ethnic religion: A religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated Fundamentalism: Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, denomination, or sect) 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 a city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic pressure. Missionary: An individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion Monotheism: The doctrine of or belief in the existence of only one God 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 Syncretic: A religion that combines several traditions Universalizing religion: A religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location Acculturation: Adopting certain traits from another culture while maintaining elements of one's original culture. Apartheid: Laws in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas. Assimilation: The process through which individuals or groups from one culture adopt the customs, values, and behaviors of another culture, often leading to a loss of their original cultural identity Balkanization: The process by which a state breaks down through ethnic conflict Blockbusting: A process by which real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices because of fear that persons of color will soon move into the neighborhood Ethnic cleansing: A process in which a more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogenous region Ethnic enclave: A geographical area where a particular ethnic group is spatially clustered and socially and economically distinct from the majority group. Ethnicity: Identity with a group of people that share distinct physical and mental traits as a product of common heredity and cultural traditions Genocide: The mass killing of a group of people in an attempt to eliminate the entire group from existence Nationalism: Loyalty and devotion to a particular nationality. 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. Race: Identity with a group of people descended from a biological ancestor Racism: Belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race White flight: the phenomenon of white people moving out of urban neighborhoods that are becoming racially or ethnically diverse, often to suburban areas