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Human Geography Unit 3: Cultural patterns and processes

Culture spreads through diffusion and shapes landscapes, languages and religions across the world.

Covers: Culture and cultural landscapes, cultural diffusion, language families, religions, effects of diffusion

Study guide

Culture is the shared beliefs, practices and traits of a group. Folk culture is traditional, practiced by small, often rural groups and slow to change, while popular culture spreads widely and changes quickly. Cultural landscapes are the visible human imprint on the land, like buildings, signs and farms. Sequent occupance describes layers of culture left by successive groups in the same place. Cultural traits can be material (clothing, food, buildings) or nonmaterial (beliefs, values, language). Placemaking gives spaces meaning, and globalization can create placelessness, where places lose their uniqueness.

Cultural diffusion is the spread of culture. Relocation diffusion happens when people move and bring culture with them. Expansion diffusion spreads culture outward while it stays strong at its origin. It has three types: contagious (spreading to nearby people, like a viral video), hierarchical (from more influential people or places to others, like fashion from big cities), and stimulus (the underlying idea spreads but changes, like McDonald's offering vegetarian menus in India). Acculturation is adopting some traits of another culture, assimilation is fully adopting it, syncretism is blending cultures, and multiculturalism keeps multiple cultures side by side.

Languages are grouped into families, branches and groups. Indo-European is the largest family, including English, Spanish and Hindi. Lingua francas, like English and Swahili, help people with different languages communicate. Religions are universalizing (seeking converts worldwide), like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism, or ethnic (tied to a particular group and place), like Hinduism and Judaism. Christianity and Islam spread through relocation, expansion and trade. Cultural conflicts can arise from these differences, while some groups revive traditions to resist globalization.

When groups without a common language interact, often through trade or colonialism, they may form a simplified pidgin. Once a pidgin becomes the native language of later generations, it develops into a full creole language. Haitian Creole is an example, and the process is called creolization. Colonialism spread English, Spanish, French and Portuguese worldwide through relocation diffusion. Colonial schools and governments often suppressed Indigenous languages, many of which are now endangered. Today, the internet, apps and social media can speed up language loss by favoring global languages, but they can also help revive small languages through online lessons and communities.

Toponyms are place names, and they record a place's cultural history. Religious diffusion leaves names like San Francisco or St. Louis, along with churches, mosques, temples and cemeteries that mark sacred space on the landscape. Religious rules shape food and farming patterns. Islam and Judaism forbid pork, so pig raising is rare in the Middle East and North Africa but common in China. Many Hindus avoid beef and revere cattle, which affects how livestock is used in India.

Immigrants often cluster in ethnic neighborhoods, or enclaves, where they keep their language, religion, food and festivals alive through shops, places of worship and community groups. These neighborhoods give a strong sense of place to large cities even as later generations assimilate.

Key ideas

• Folk culture is traditional and local; popular culture spreads quickly.
• Diffusion can be relocation or expansion (contagious, hierarchical, stimulus).
• Acculturation, assimilation and syncretism describe cultural blending.
• Indo-European is the largest language family.
• Religions are universalizing or ethnic.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Confusing relocation diffusion (people move) with expansion diffusion (the idea spreads).
• Calling Hinduism universalizing; it's an ethnic religion.

Words to know

Culture

Shared beliefs, practices and traits of a group.

Folk culture

Traditional culture of small, often rural groups.

Popular culture

Widespread culture that changes quickly.

Cultural landscape

The visible human imprint on the land.

Sequent occupance

Layers of culture left by successive groups.

Placelessness

Loss of a place's uniqueness.

Relocation diffusion

Culture spreads as people move.

Expansion diffusion

Culture spreads outward while staying strong at its origin.

Contagious diffusion

Rapid spread to nearby people.

Hierarchical diffusion

Spread from influential people or places to others.

Stimulus diffusion

An idea spreads but changes as it's adopted.

Acculturation

Adopting some traits of another culture.

Assimilation

Fully adopting another culture.

Syncretism

Blending cultural traits into something new.

Language family

A group of languages with a common ancestor.

Lingua franca

A common language used between speakers of different languages.

Universalizing religion

A religion that seeks converts worldwide.

Ethnic religion

A religion tied to a particular group and place.

Sample practice questions

5 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.