Culture & Language Test Study Guide
1.
What types of diffusion can explain how language and culture spread? Be sure to explain your reasoning.
Relocation Diffusion: moving from one place to another
Expansion Diffusion:
a. Hierarchical
b. Stimulus
c. Contagious
2. Define cultural imperialism and apply it to a real-world situation:
The spread or advance of one culture at the expense of others or imposition on other cultures which it modifies,
replaces, or destroys.
3. What does the term isogloss refer to?
a boundary that separate regions in which different language usages predominate.
4. What is unique about the Basque language? Where are most Basque speakers found?
It is not linked to any other known language. Most Basque speakers are found in Spain.
5. Know the major language families:
a. Indo-European Language Family:
i. Largest language family in the world
ii. Of the top 10 languages spoken in the world today, seven are descendents of the Indo-European
language family.
iii. Examples: English, Greek languages of Aeolic, Ionic, Doric, Farsi, Bengali, and Hindi.
b. The Sino-Tibetan Language Family:
i. Upwards of 20% of the world’s population speaks a Sino-Tibetan language
ii. Examples: Mandarin, Thai, Cantonese, and Burmese
c. The Afro-Asiatic Language Family:
i. Many of these languages are spoken in North Africa.
ii. Most commonly spoken language is Arabic
iii. Examples: Arabic, Hebrew, Somali, and Berber
d. The Niger-Congo Language Family:
i. Consists of languages found in Southern Africa
ii. Swahili is a lingua franca in the East Africa region today
iii. Languages primarily diffused through colonization (relocation diffusion) and trade.
iv. Examples: Swahili, Zulu
6. What does the term toponym refer to? Be sure to understand what this looks like in the real world.
The name given to a portion of Earth’s surface. Austin, Texas, is named after Stephen Austin.
7. Compare and contrast popular and folk cultures:
You were given a chart comparing the two: let me know if you need another copy of this.
8. Why are some languages under the threat of extinction?
Globalization and the use of a global lingua franca have caused some indigenous languages to be threatened with
extinction.
9. What is meant by a protolanguage?
A protolanguage refers to a foundation language that started all languages.
10. Compare and contrast assimilation and acculturation:
Assimilation is the process through which people lose differentiating traits, such as dress, speech, particularities,
or mannerisms, when they come into contact with another society or culture.
Acculturation is the cultural change that results when one group adopts certain traits of the dominant society
without adopting all traits.
11. What is meant by global lingua franca? What is the current lingua franca? How does the world work to
accommodate this?
Global lingua franca refers to the global language of business and international interactions. Currently, English is
the global lingua franca. Many countries around the world have incorporated English into their schools to ensure
that their youths can complete in the global economy.
12. What are dialects?
a regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.
13. Define ethnocentrism:
the feeling that your ethnicity is superior to others.
14. How many languages exist today? Where are the most linguistically diverse places on earth?
5000-6000 languages exist today. India and Papua New Guinea account for 1500-2000 of these languages.
15. What is meant by the term language family?
a collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history