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cultural anthropology
cultural anthropology terms
101
Anthropology
Undergraduate 2
10/08/2007

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Term
culture-bound
Definition
theories about the world and reality based on the assumptions and values of one's own culture
Term
applied anthropology
Definition
the use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems, often for a specific client
Term
physical anthropology
Definition
systematic study of humans as biological organisms
Term
molecular anthropology
Definition
branch of biological anthropology that uses genetic and biochemical techniques to test hypotheses about human evolution, adaptation, and variation
Term
paleoanthropology
Definition
study of the origins and predecesors of the present human species
Term
primatology
Definition
study of living and fossil primates
Term
forensic anthropology
Definition
field of applied physical anthropology that specializes in the identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes
Term
archaeology
Definition
study of material remains, usually from the past, to describe and explain human behavior
Term
linguistic anthropology
Definition
study of human languages
Term
cultural anthropolgy
Definition
the study of customary patterns in human behavior, thought, and feelings. It focuses on humans as culture-producing and culture-reproducing creatures
Term
ethnography
Definition
a detailed description of a particular culture primarily based on fieldwork
Term
fieldwork
Definition
the term anthropologists use for on-location research
Term
participant observation
Definition
in ethnography, the technique of learning a people's culture through social participation and personal observation within the community being studied, as well as interviews and discussion with individual members of the group over an extended period of time
Term
ethnology
Definition
the study and analysis of different cultures from a comparative or historical point of view, utilizing ethnographic accounts and developing anthropological theories that help explain why certain important different or similarities occur among groups
Term
holistic perspective
Definition
a fundamental principle of anthropology, that the various parts of culture must be viewed in the broadest possible context in order to understand their interconnections and interdependence
Term
informants
Definition
members of a society being studied who provide information that helps the ethnographer make sense of what is being said and done
Term
medical anthropology
Definition
a specialization in anthropolgy that brings theoretical and applied approaches from cultural and biological anthropology to the study of human health and disease
Term
fact
Definition
an observation verified by several observers skilled in the necessary techniques of observation
Term
hypothesis
Definition
a tentative explanation of the relation between certain phenomena
Term
theory
Definition
in science, an explanation of natural phenomena, supported by a reliable body of data
Term
doctrine
Definition
an assertion of opinion or belief formally handed down by authority as true and indisputable
Term
globalization
Definition
worldwide interconnectedness, evidenced in global movements of natural resources, trade goods, human labor, finance capital, information, and infectious diseases
Term
culture
Definition
a society's shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions-which are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior and which are reflected in behavior
Term
society
Definition
an organized group or groups of interdependent people who generally share a common territory, language, and culture and who act together for collective survival and well-being
Term
gender
Definition
the cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes
Term
subculture
Definition
a distinctive set of standards and behavior patterns by which a group within a larger society operates
Term
ethnic group
Definition
people who collectively and publicly identify themselves as a distinct group based on various cultural features such as shared ancestry and common origin, language, customs, and traditional beliefs
Term
ethnicity
Definition
the set of cultural ideas held by an ethnic group
Term
pluralisic society
Definition
a society in which two or more ethnic groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state but maintain their cultural differences
Term
enculturation
Definition
the process by which a society's culture is transmitted from one generation to the next and individuals become members of their society
Term
symbols
Definition
signs, emblems, and other things that represent something else in a meaningful but arbitrary way
Term
social structure
Definition
the rule-governed relationships-with all their rights and obligations-that hold members of a society together. this includes households, families, associations, and power relations, including politics
Term
infrastructure
Definition
the economic foundation of a society, including its subsistence practices, and the tools and other material equipment used to make a living
Term
superstructure
Definition
a society's shared sense of identity and worldview. the collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values by which a group of people makes sense of the world-its shape, challenges, and opportunities-and their place in it. this includes religion and national identity
Term
Human relations Area Files (HRAF)
Definition
an ever-growing catalogue of cross-indexed ethnographic data, filed by geographic location and cultural characteristics. Housed at Yale University and available on the internet
Term
ethnohistory
Definition
study of cultures of the recent past through oral histories; accounts left by explorers, missionaries, and traders; and through analysis of such records as land titles, birth and death records, and other archival materials
Term
ethnocentrism
Definition
the belief that the ways of one's own culture are the only proper ones
Term
cultural relativism
Definition
the thesis that one must suspend judgement of other peoples practices in order to understand them in their own cultural terms
Term
paleoanthropologists
Definition
anthropologists specializing in the study of human evolutionary history
Term
primatologists
Definition
specialists in the behavior and biology of living primates and their evolutionary history
Term
evolution
Definition
changes in the genetic makeup of a population over generations
Term
genes
Definition
the inherited molecular code that specifies the biological traits and characteristics of eac individual
Term
adaptation
Definition
both a process and a result of a series of beneficial adjustments of organisms to their environment
Term
natural selection
Definition
the principle of mechanism by which individuals having biological characteristics best suited to a particular environment survive and reproduce with greater frequency than individuals without those characteristics
Term
species
Definition
a population or group of populations having common attributes and the ability to interbreed and produce live, fertile offspring
Term
primate
Definition
an individual belonging to subgroup of mammals including lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans
Term
hominoids
Definition
the broad-shouldered tailless group of primates that includes all living and extinct apes and humans
Term
bipedalism
Definition
a special for of locomotion on two feet found in humans and their ancestors
Term
Australopithecus
Definition
the genus including several species of early bipeds from southern and eastern Africa living between 4.2 and about 1 million years ago, one of whom was directly ancestral to humans
Term
Oldowan
Definition
the first stone tool industry beginning between 2.5 and 2.6 million years ago
Term
Lower Paleolithic
Definition
Old Stone Age spanning from about 2.5 million to 250,000 or 200,000 years ago and characterized by Oldowan and Acheulean tools
Term
homo habilis
Definition
"handy man"-the first fossil members of the genus homo appearing 2.5 million years ago, with larger brains and smaller faces than australopithecines
Term
homo erectus
Definition
"upright man" - a species within the genus homo first appearing just after 2 milion years ago in Africa and ultimately spreading throughout the Old World
Term
Neandertals
Definition
a distinct group of archaic homo samiens inhabiting Europe, Southwest Asia, and south-central Asia from approximately 125,000 to 30,000 years ago
Term
Mousterian
Definition
the tool industry of the middle Paleolithic used by all people in europe, the middle east, and Africa, from 125,000 to 40,000 years ago
Term
Upper Paleolithic
Definition
the last part (40,000-10,000 years ago) of the Old Stone age, featuring tool industries characterized by long slim blades and an explosion of creative symbolic forms
Term
multiregional hypothesis
Definition
the hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition from Homo Erectus to homo sapiens throughout the inhabited world
Term
race
Definition
in biology, a subgroup within a species, not applicable to humans
Term
signals
Definition
instinctive sounds or gestures that have a natural or self-evident meaning
Term
descriptive linguistics
Definition
the branch of linguistics that involves unraveling a language by recording, describing, and analyzing all of its features
Term
phonetics
Definition
the systematic identification and description of distinctive speech sounds in a language
Term
phonology
Definition
the study of language sounds
Term
phonemes
Definition
the smallest units of sound that make a difference in meaning in a language. can alter meaning, but have no meaning by themselves
Term
morphology
Definition
the study of the patterns or rules of word formation in a language (including such things as rules concerning verb tense, pluralization, and compound words)
Term
morphemes
Definition
the smallest units of sound that carry a meaning in language.
Term
frame substitution
Definition
a method used to identify the syntactic units of language. for example, a category called "nouns" may be established as anything that will fit the substitution frame "I see a ___"
Term
syntax
Definition
the patterns or rules for the formation of phrases and sentences in a language
Term
grammar
Definition
the entire formal structure of a language, including morphology and syntax
Term
form classes
Definition
the parts of speech or categories of words that work the same way in any sentence, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives
Term
gesture
Definition
facial expressions and bodily postures and motions that convey intended as well as subconcious messages
Term
kinesics
Definition
a system of natating and analyzing postures, facial expressions, and body motions that convey messages
Term
proxemics
Definition
the cross-cultural study of humankind's perception and use of space
Term
paralanguage
Definition
voice effects that accompany language and convery meaning. (giggling, groaning, sighing; voice qualities such as pitch and tempo)
Term
voice qualities
Definition
in paralanguage, the background characteristics of a speaker's voice, including pitch, articulation, tempo, and resonance
Term
vocalizations
Definition
identifiable paralinguistic noises that are turned on and off at perceivable and relatively short intervals. these include vocal characterizers (giggling, sighing), vocal qualifiers (volume, tempo), and vocal segregates ("oh oh")
Term
vocal characterizations
Definition
in paralanguage, vocalizations such as laughing, crying, yawning, or "breaking," which the speaker "talks through"
Term
vocal qualifiers
Definition
in paralanguage, vocalizationsof brief duration that modify utterances in terms of intensity. include volume, pitch, tempo
Term
vocal segregates
Definition
in paralanguage, vocalizations that resmble the sounds of language but do not appear in sequencesthat can properly be called words. "oh oh expressions"
Term
tonal language
Definition
a languagein which the sound pitch of a spoken word is an essential part of its pronunciation and meaning
Term
historical linguistics
Definition
the branch of linguistics that studies the histories of and relationships among languages, both living and dead
Term
language family
Definition
a group of languages descended form a single ancestral language
Term
linguistic divergence
Definition
the development of different languages from a single ancestral language
Term
glottochronology
Definition
in linguistics, a method for identifying the approzimate time that languages branched off from a common ancestor. it is based on analyzing core vocabularies
Term
core vocabularies
Definition
the most basic and long-lasting words in any language-pronouns, lower numerals, and names for body parts and natural objects
Term
pidgin
Definition
a language in which the syntax and vocabulary of two other languages are simplified amd combined
Term
linguistic nationalism
Definition
the attempt by ethnic minorities and even countries to proclaimmmm independence by purging their language of foreign terms
Term
creole
Definition
a pidgin language that has become the mother tongue of society
Term
ethnolinguistics
Definition
a branch of linguistics that studies the relationship between language and culture
Term
linguistic relativity
Definition
the preposition that language plays a fundamental role in shaping the way members of a society think and behave
Term
gendered speech
Definition
distinct male and female syntax exhibited in various languages around the world
Term
dialects
Definition
varying forms of a language that reflect particular regions, occupations, or social classes and that are similar enough to be mutually intelligible
Term
code switching
Definition
the process of changing from one language or dialect to another
Term
displacement
Definition
the ability to refer to things and events removed in time and space
Term
modal personality
Definition
the body of character traits that occur with the highest frequency in a culturally bounded population
Term
intersexuals
Definition
people born with reproductive organs, genitalia, and/or sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or female
Term
transgenders
Definition
people who cross-over or occupy a culturally accepted intermediate position in the binary male-female gender construction
Term
ethnic psychosis
Definition
mental disorders specific to particular ethnic groups
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