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