Culture Vocab
The way of life of a group of people is called...
Culture
Which culture, folk or popular (pop), is primarily found in larger societies where certain habits are shared even though the people are very different from each other?
Pop culture
How can you communicate with other people without using words?
Movement, sounds, symbols, etc. (Sign Language is example)
What 3 factors can help you differentiate one dialect from another?
Vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling
Informal languages
Give 2 examples of material culture.
Cars, homes, athletic wear worn by famous athletes, machines, buildings, monuments, images, etc.
Soccer, along with other sports, came from what type of culture?
Folk culture (sports were a custom but diffused to other places)
What languages lack a literary tradition (institutional, developing, vigorous, threatened, dying)?
What is an example of an isogloss in/near Georgia?
Appalachian Mountains (separates people- Appalachian English formed)
A creolized language is an example of what?
Syncretism
When you base your feelings about someone else's culture using your own culture and putting your culture at the center, this is called being...
Ethnocentric (Ethnocentrism)
Folk culture varies "from place to place". Pop culture varies "from time to time". What does this mean?
Folk culture is different in various areas, but it barely changes as time goes by. Pop culture doesn't change if you go to a different place, but it will change over time.
Why are dying languages considered to be "dying"?
Because mostly older people use the language, it is not passed on to children, so it will eventually go extinct.
What three distinct dialect regions developed in the early colonies and still play a role in dialects today?
North, Midland, South
Where was the term "lingua franca" originally used?
It was used by the Arab traders who needed a common language with the Europeans (the Arabs called them "Franks")
What is the difference between an artifact, a sociofact, and a mentifact?
Artifacts are objects created by a culture, and are easily changed.
Sociofacts are the structures & organizations of a culture which influence how people act around others, and are slow to change.
Mentifacts are shared ideas, values, and beliefs of a culture, and are the slowest to change.
Why does pop culture change very frequently as opposed to folk culture?
Pop culture is rapidly diffused throughout many societies, folk culture doesn't have as many connections, so it doesn't diffuse and changes very little.
Give one example of each: language family, language branch, a language from a certain branch.
Language Family: Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, etc.
Language Branch: Indo-Iranian, Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, etc.
Language from Branch: English, German (Germanic), Serbian, Russian (Balto-Slavic), Spanish, French (Romance), etc.
What is the importance of Noah Webster when talking about the American English dialect?
He created the first American dictionary as well as grammar books. He made small changes in words so they wouldn't be the same as British English (ex. from colour to color, honour to honor, and others).
How do taboos impact what people of a certain culture eat?
People might desire certain foods and avoid others because of concern of environment, to protect endangered animals, or conserve scarce resources.
Are habits and customs the same thing? Why or why not?
No, they aren't the same. A habit is a repetitive act of an individual, whereas a custom is a repetitive act of a group to the point that it becomes a characteristic of the group.
How does the domination of pop culture affect folk culture?
It threatens the uniqueness of folk culture and its survival. It will reduce local diversity and intellectual stimulation that arise from differences of backgrounds.
How was language distributed throughout history, and how is it different from its distribution nowadays?
Before the internet when people traveled on foot, on boat, etc, languages were distributed by relocation diffusion (people going to different places and spreading their language). Now, because of electronic contact, language is spread through contagious diffusion.
How can you tell the difference between a dialect and a language?
Determine if the dialect/language is mutually intelligible with another dialect/language. If it is, it's most likely a dialect; if it isn't, it is most likely a language.
How does gender affect the way languages vary?
Some languages have different forms or endings depending on gender, and some languages have distinctive articles.
Women use "warmer" language (talking about family, friends, and social life); men are more aggressive, swear more, and talked about objects more than people.