Culture

1. Culture Basics, Language, Religion and Ethnicity

2. 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?

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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?

6. 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

7. Diffusion • Diffusion barriers • Friction of distance/ distance decay • Absorbing barriers • Interrupting barriers • Semi-permeable • Exchange of ideas: • Acculturation • Assimilation • Cross-cultural fertilization

8. Why geographers study language Zorionak! ¿Cómo estás? • 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 Hello Danke Schön

9. Languages — tongues that cannot be mutually understood • Dialects — variantforms 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

10. 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.

11. isoglosses — bordersof individual word usages or pronunciations • Typically cluster together in “bundles” • Bundles serve as dividing lines among dialects and languages

12. 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

13. http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/NationalMap/NationalMap.htmlhttp://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/NationalMap/NationalMap.html

14. 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

15. 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)

16. 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. ***

17. 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%) Top ten variables differentiating Canadian and American English (national averages). http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/programs/linguistics/faculty/boberg/Articles/n_american_survey/N_American_Survey.htm

18. 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

19. 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)

22. 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

24. 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

26. 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

27. Searching for the first language • The “Ur language” • Nostratic—ancestralspeech 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

32. Switzerland • Switzerland has four recognized national languages: French, German, Italian, and Romansch. • Romansch, Latin group, is spoken by only 1.1% of the population.

33. 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

34. 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

35. Major World Religions

36. 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.”

37. 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

38. 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