culture basics, language, religion and ethnicity
TRANSCRIPT
Culture
Basics, Language, Religion and Ethnicity
Family Culture Interviews: Interview each other.
– # of people living in home:– size of “nuclear family”:– From where did family originate? – amount of time spent with relatives outside of “nuclear” family
(daily? yearly?):– Favorite foods:– Favorite activities:– Known values (education, sports, music, art, etc.)– Customs: (family meals, religious activities, etc.)– Rules (chores, expectations, allowed responses, visitors, etc.)– Type of home:– Expected type of career (based on parental expectations):– Anything else special related to family?
Family Culture Interviews: Mine:– # of people living in home: 5– size of “nuclear family”: 5– From where did family originate? Mainly Europe, 1/16 Kiowa – amount of time spent with relatives outside of “nuclear” family
(daily? yearly?): 2-3 weeks per year– Favorite foods: Italian, German, Standard American– Favorite activities: Reading, sports, music, clubs/activities– Known values: each succeed to your ability, if not full-time school
then work full-time, work hard, respect authority– Customs: family meals, walks with Mom, helping Dad with
household jobs– Rules: expected to do well in school, be respectful, strict curfew,
chores, don’t lie, don’t embarrass family– Type of home: single family, suburban/rural– Expected type of career: whatever you were good at and could
make a living at
What is culture? “way of life” (de la Blache) “attitudes, objectives and technical skills
of a people” Human traits acquired through formal or
informal learning process Specialized behavioral patterns,
understandings, adaptations, and social systems that summarized a group’s LEARNED way of life.
General Cultural Development General Cultural Development
– Agricultural Revolution:• Change?• Religion: hunter vs. farmer• Results?
– Religious revolutions:• Changing societal hierarchies and roles• Theocracy vs. ????
– Industrial Revolution:• Technology• Urbanization
– Democratic Revolution:• Reaction against?
Differences and Similarities between groups Differences:
– Isolation– Different groups develop techniques to
solve regionally varied problems of securing food, clothing and shelter• Environmental Determinism• Environmental Possibilism
Similarities– Diffusion– Independent Innovation
Diffusion Diffusion barriers
– Friction of distance/ distance decay
– Absorbing barriers
– Interrupting barriers
– Semi-permeable Exchange of ideas:
– Acculturation
– Assimilation
– Cross-cultural fertilization
Why geographers study language
the single most common variable by which cultural groups are identified
the main means by which culture passes from one generation to the next
they reinforce the sense of region and place Some 6,000 languages and many more dialects
are spoken today
Languages — tongues that cannot be mutually understood
Dialects — variant forms of a language have some mutual comprehension– A dialect is distinctive enough in vocabulary and
pronunciation to label its speaker Pidgin language — results when different linguistic
groups come into contact– Serves the purposes of commerce– Has a small vocabulary derived from the various contact
groups Creole language- when a pidgin becomes the native
tongue of a group and develops in complexity Lingua franca — (Frankish Tongue) a language that
spreads over a wide area where it is not the mother tongue– A language of communication and commerce
Kenya Kenya has two official languages: – Swahili and English.
Swahili (Creole language) developed along the coast of East Africa.
English came during the British colonial period.
isoglosses — borders of individual word usages or pronunciations– Typically cluster
together in “bundles”– Bundles serve as
dividing lines among dialects and languages
English dialects in the United States At least three major dialects, corresponding to
major culture regions, developed on the east coast by the time of the American Revolution – Northern– Midland– Southern
http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/NationalMap/NationalMap.html
Today, many regional words = old-fashioned, but new words display regional variations
controlled-access divided highway =– Freeway — a California
word
– Turnpike and parkway — mainly northeastern and Midwestern words
– Thruway, expressway, and interstate
English dialects in the United States
Many African-Americans speak their own form of English — Black English (Ebonics)– From a pidgin that developed on early slave
plantations– Many features separate it from standard speech,
for example:• Lack of pronoun differentiation between genders
• Use of undifferentiated pronouns
– Often not recognized as a separate linguistic group (seen as speaking standard English poorly)
London, England Not all English words are mutually intelligible.
London tube sign– Means?
Tubes, subway, and busking = dialect words
***Busking is the practice of performing in public places for tips and gratuities. ***
Top ten variables differentiating Canadian and American English (national averages).
Americans say: Canadians say:
first grade (100%) grade one (88%)
candy bar (80%) chocolate bar (88%)
faucet (91%) tap (74%)
zee (99%) zed (74%) studio apartment (71%) bachelor apartment (61%)
ATM (89%) bank machine (57%)
gutters (91%) eavestroughs (58%)
soda (57%) pop (70%) silverware (83%) cutlery (51%)
restroom (55%) washroom (52%)
http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/programs/linguistics/faculty/boberg/Articles/n_american_survey/N_American_Survey.htm
History of English Old English: 450- 1100 CE
– Old German meets Celt
– Norse invasion
– Beowulf
Middle English: 1100- 1500 CE– Old German/Celtic meets Old French
(Nordic)
– 1066: Normans
– Chaucer
Modern English: 1500- current day Early Modern:
– German/ Celtic/ French (Nordic) meets new words and changes pronunciation (Great vowel shift- shorter sounds)
– Exploration– Shakespeare
Late Modern– Standardized Spelling– Changes in vocabulary
(Industrial Revolution)
Language families The Indo-European language family
– Largest most wide-spread family
– Subfamilies—Romance, Slavic, Germanic, Indic, Celtic, and Iranic• Subfamilies are divided into individual
languages
– By comparing vocabularies in various languages one can see the kinship
Mother = Madre = Màthair = Mutter = Mère = Mati = Mataji
Indo-European diffusion Earliest speakers from southern and southeastern
Turkey (Anatolia) ca. 8 or 9 thousand years ago– Diffused west and north into Europe
• 2 theories: – Spread of agriculture– conquest
Later language diffusion occurred with the spread of great political empires: Latin, English, and Russian– Conqueror’s language spread hierarchically
• Spread of Latin with Roman conquests• Spanish in Latin America
Other major language families Sino-Tibetan language family
– 2nd largest language family• 403 languages
– Extends throughout most of China and Southeast Asia– Mandarin and Cantonese = dialects or languages?
The Afro-Asiatic family – Has two major divisions—Semitic and Hamitic
• Semitic → from Tigris-Euphrates valley westward across the north half of Africa
– Arabic is the most widespread Semitic language– Hebrew (which used to be “dead”) is the official language of Israel
• Smaller number speak Hamitic languages– Expansion of Arabic decreased the area and number of speakers
Searching for the first language
The “Ur language” Nostratic—ancestral speech of Middle
East 12,000 to 20,000 years ago– Ancestor to nine modern language families – A 500-word dictionary has been compiled
Contemporary to ↑: Dene-Caucasian– led to Sino-Tibetan, Basque, and Native-
American: Na-Dene
The environment and vocabulary Spanish language
– rough terrain
– differences in shape and configuration of mountains Scottish Gaelic
– rough terrain
– Common attribute spoken by hill people Romanian tongue
– rugged terrain
– use of terrain for livestock herding English
– Developed in wet coastal plains
– Poor in words describing mountainous terrain
The environment provides refuge Inhospitable environments offer
protection and isolation– Harder or less likely to be conquered– Mountains tend to isolate inhabitants– Linguistic refuge areas
• Rugged hill and mountain areas• Excessively cold or dry climates• Impenetrable forests and remote islands• Extensive marshes and swamps
Examples of linguistic refuge areas Caucasus Mountains Alps, Himalayas, and
highlands of Mexico are linguistic shatter belts
American Indian tongue Quechua → Andes Mountains of South America
Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico, still has an archaic form of Spanish
Appalachian Mts- historically preserved 17th century English
Switzerland Switzerland has four
recognized national languages: French, German, Italian, and Romansch.
Romansch, Latin group, is spoken by only 1.1% of the population.
Facts on Religion
Religion is a great binding force in societies, especially those less dominated by technology
Religions change over time religions have been adopted across
cultural barriers and language boundaries
Religion's role in society In some countries it practically constitutes culture Religion manifests itself in many different ways
– Worship of souls of ancestors in living natural objects – Belief that certain living persons possess capacities granted by a
supernatural power – Belief in a deity or deities
In Western, industrialized, urbanized societies religion has become subordinate to secular culture and government
Effect on culture – "good" life has rewards and "bad" behavior risks punishment-
controlling individual behavior– Modes of dress acceptable and foods a person can or cannot eat – Commercial practices – Location and structure of houses
Major World ReligionsMajor World Religions
Vocabulary of Religions Inclusive vs. Exclusive
– Inclusive- “our” way is right for us, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is wrong.
– Exclusive= any who don’t follow “OUR” beliefs is wrong and will be punished in the afterlife.
Sect, Denomination, Cult– Divisions of a religion.– Cult - used negatively, really refers to ANY religion
Syncretism– When 2 things blend to create a new idea
Agnostic vs. Atheistic– Agnostic- unsure about “what’s out there”– Atheistic- sure that there isn’t anything “out there.”
Vocabulary of Religions Apostate vs. Convert
– Apostate- leaves a religion or religious group– Convert- joins a religion or a religions group
Blasphemy vs. Heresy vs. Dogma vs. Infidel– Dogma- accepted beliefs and traditions in a religion– All the others- going against the dogma of a religion
Solstice and Equinox– Mark the change of seasons- important days in many
religions, especially early ones Morals vs. Ethics
– Morals- ideas about right and wrong - from religion– Ethics- ideas about right and wrong - from society
Vocabulary of Religions Fundamentalist vs. Conservative vs. Liberal
– Fundamentalist- interpret every word of their religion literally as absolutely true- no interpretation
– Conservative- allows for a little interpretation, change over time– Liberal- allows more interpretation, religious writings seen as
more symbolic in meaning, rather than literally true Idol
– Something which is admired excessively or worshipped Myth
– Religious stories which we don’t believe or that we believe have been disproved. (Apply to ANY religion)
Avatar– Physical form of deity, come to earth to accomplish a particular
task