Language Groups
Language Development
Culture
Potpourri
Cultural "-facts"
100
Name a few non-Indo-European or Sino-Tibetan institutional languages.
What is Kannada? What is Hebrew? What is Arabic? What is Hungarian? What is Finnish?
100
This is a form of language that results from the syncretization of two previous languages. Specifically, this is not spoken natively and is used only for communication.
What is pidgin?
100
Characterize this cultural disposition: "Those darn Yankees with their funny accents and funny ways. If only they could be like us Georgians!"
What is ethnocentrism?
100
Name a word unique to the Southern United States Dialect.
What is "ain't"? What is "y'all"?
100
What mentifact is indicated by this image?
Christianity
200
This language is a language isolate in Europe with no known ancestor.
What is Basque?
200
English is the dominant lingua franca today. This language has the possibility of usurping English's status.
What is Mandarin Chinese?
200
What type of diffusion is the assimilation of Chinese minorities into the Han majority?
Hierarchical and relocation
200
Why has English spread so virulently across the world?
The British Empire and the United States of America dominated international politics for the better part of a few centuries, both leaving behind extensive colonial legacies. With the rise of mass media and globalized communications technologies, primarily stemming from Anglophone countries, English further asserted itself and the lingua franca.
200
What are some artifacts present in this image?
Birthday hats, birthday cake, balloons, candles, plates, sugary foods
300
This language family is a result of the conquering and subsequent Latinization of Europe by the Roman Empire.
What is Romance?
300
English, despite being a Germanic language, contains many words of Romance origin. What does this imply about the history of the speakers of the language?
It implies that the English had heavy intermixing with speakers of a Romance language, in this case the Norman invaders.
300
What cultural principle does this image represent.
Sequent Occupance.
300
Name a creole language and the languages which it formed out of.
Haitian Creole: French and other Romance languages alongside African languages.
300
Look at these cultural artifacts. What do they indicate about the culture that created them?
These are examples; there are more good answers:
The fine cutlery and plates indicates an extensive metallurgic tradition in the area.
The ostensible lack of meat in the dishes may indicate a cultural distaste for meat.
400
You look at a linguistic map dominated primarily by one language family. However, there are a few pockets of another language family in the region, and the only other languages of that family are thousands of miles away. What does this imply about the history of that cultural group?
The people speaking that sequestered language migrated from their homeland many years ago and managed to maintain their unique language in spite of the overwhelming influence of other languages.
400
In France, the French Government after the French Revolution underwent an extensive Francophonizing of the country. What type of diffusion is this?
What is hierarchical diffusion?
400
What human geographical principle does a religion like Chrislam reflect?
Syncretism
400
If the Celtic languages and cultures are isolated by many seas and distances, why are they so similar?
The Celtic people and languages by extension used to occupy a large swath of Europe before being sequestered to the edges of its Atlantic coast.
400
This is an image of the different "castas" of colonial Spain. What "-fact" would this represent?
This image, besides being an artifact itself, would represent a sociofact as it chronicles the way colonial Spain's society was organized.
500
Why would the Indo-European language family, a family that originated in and around the Eurasian steppe, be so widespread?
The reasons for this are many, but the primary reasons are: the Indo-European peoples spread very far across Eurasia and that the most dominant of colonial empires by far have almost only spoken Indo-European langauges.
500
What do the greater dialectical differences between American English and British English than other varieties of English indicate about the history of American English?
American English diverged earlier from British English earlier than other varieties of English across the world, retaining some more conservative aspects and developing in a radically different environment to British English.
500
What could the widespread presence of cultural traits from one culture across the entire world indicate about its people?
It could indicate that many migrated from the home country. It could indicate that that country has dominated the cultural realm of the world by colonization or media presence.
500
What kind of diffusion is the widespread adopting of Western clothing in Asia?
Acculturation
500
What mentifact might this image indicate of the society it describes?
The mentifact that the image indicates is a hierarchical view of lineage which results in the dehumanization of individuals seen as belonging to an inferior race.