Religion and Language Unit Topic#III

LANGUAGE Language is not merely communication…but a symbolic form of communication What is Language? language: an organized system of spoken words by which people communicate with mutual comprehension. ideas, attitudes, signs, sounds, or gestures language is an open-system, not a closed-system finite sounds exist with potential for infinite meaning contains displacement

isogloss isogloss : a geographic area where a language is Spoken Most Widely Spoken Languages in the World?? First Language: 1. Mandarin Chinese mill 2. Spanish mill 3.English mill English: official language of 83 countries!

Language family a group of languages descended from a single, earlier language family tongue (Indo-European most widely distributed) Indo-European --- Latin --- Romance Languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, & Romanian) Afro-Asiatic --- Semitic--- Arabic Moroccan, Palestinian, Egyptian, Iraqi, Tunisian, & Arabian) Chinese --- Mandarin, Cantonese, Jin, Wu, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, (Minbei, Minnan, Yue, Hokkien, Teochew, Pinghua, Taiwanese) protolanguage: an earlier language that led to other tongues Ex: panis pane pan pine lacte latta leche lait

WORLD PATTERN OF LANGUAGES World language distribution reflects the dynamic pattern of: human movements, settlements, & colonization How do languages spread? --relocation diffusion --hierarchical diffusion (i.e.: English in India)

Religion Religions are value systems Religions teach followers proper ethical behavior

State Religions Buddhism: Myanmar, Laos, Thailand Islam: Pakistan, Iran Russia: Russian Orthodox Greece: Greek Orthodox

Boundaries Interfaith Boundaries Boundaries between the world’s major faiths. Intrafaith Boundaries Boundaries within a single major faith. Ex: Yugoslavia genocide Partition of India Israel and Palestine

Sacred Sites Jerusalem is sacred to 3 religions: Judaism (Western Wall) Christianity (Church of the Holy Sepulchre) Islam (Dome of the Rock) Hindu pilgrimage to Ganges River in Varanasi, India The Great Mosque at Mecca

CLASSIFICATIONS Universalizing Religions: Christianity Islam Buddhism Monotheism Christianity Islam Judaism “Ethnic” Religions: Hinduism Japanese Shinto Judaism Polytheism Japanese Shinto Hinduism “Tribal” Religions (shamanism & animism)

Secularism An indifference to or rejection of religion agnostic? atheist? The Soviet Union: Had an official policy of atheism Discouraged religious practice Drew boundaries for political control that separated ethnic groups in small areas

Disposal of the Dead Burial: Christians, Jews, Muslims Cremation: Hinduism, Buddhism

HINDUISM Oldest major world religion (over 4,000 years old) religious philosophical social economic Artistic Caste System \Hindu temples Ethical system: dharma (conduct in this life) and karma (conduct in previous lives) Divine Trinity of Hindu gods: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer.

Buddhism Started as a Hindu reform movement Founded by Prince Siddhartha Gautama Buddhism (2,600 years old): “Buddha” means enlightened one About million followers (India, China, Japan, Tibet, Nepal, S.E. Asia) Four Noble Truths 1.Existence Involves Suffering 2.Suffering is the Result of Desire 3.Pain Ends When Desire is Destroyed 4. Cycle of births and deaths ended (Nirvana)

Judaism Judaism was founded about 4,000 years ago (Abraham) over 20 million followers Ethical Teachings: Torah and Talmud word of god (Yahweh) said to be revealed in the Torah (Old Testament of the Bible) W. & C. Europe (Poland, Lithuania, Russia) most Jewish migrants to U.S. ZIONISM: belief in the need for an independent Jewish state in Israel. synagogue: Jewish temple

Christianity Jesus was Jewish spread through the Roman Empire by hierarchical and contagious diffusion Ethical system: Ten Commandments over 1 billion Christians worldwide (most are Roman Catholic) denominations: Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Protestants, Baptists, Jehovah’s Colonization Missionaries Immigration

Islam Islam: submission to the will of Allah over 1 billion followers world’s fastest growing religion the prophet Mohammed said to receive the holy book of the Koran from Allah (god) in about A.D. 610 Sunnis (80-85%) Shi’ites : Majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen Mosque: Muslim building of worship Five Pillars of Islam belief in one god prayer 5 times daily facing Mecca month of fasting (Ramadan) almsgiving pilgrimage to Mecca

Ethnicity Study of spatial distributions & interactions of ethnic groups - practice unique adaptive strategies - normally occupy defined areas ethnic groups: populations bound by a common place of origin & culture, religion, language ethnic derives from Greek word ethnos meaning “people” or “nation” “Ethnic”: a minority group in a host culture strong feeling of group identity

Problems membership is involuntary born into the group individuals may choose to discard their ethnicity Politics Main problem is different groups base their identities on different traits : Jews—primarily means religion The Amish—both folk culture & religion African-Americans—skin color Swiss-Americans—national origin German-Americans—ancestral language Cuban-Americans—anti-Castro, and anti-communist

How Ethnic Groups Change Acculturation: an ethnic group adopts the host society’s ways Assimilation: a complete blending with the host culture charter group: the dominant ethnic group that sets the cultural norms and standards of an area ethnic islands: clustering of one particular ethnic group in a geographic area

Migration & Ethnicity Chain migration (communication with residents from the place of emigration): the decision to migrate spreads by both hierarchical & contagious diffusion actual migration = relocation diffusion Cluster Migration: ethnic groups immigrating from one place & forming a homogenous community in the host culture Ex: Mormons

Ethnic Islands and Cultural Conflict Current ethnic conflicts: Armenia (Christian-Muslim)the former Yugoslavia (Serbian Christians- Bosnian Muslims) Sudan (Darfur) Nigeria (Muslim north-mixed religion south) Ireland (Protestant pro-British vs. Catholic Irish) Kashmir (India vs. Pakistan) Yugoslavia – mostly Catholic in north, Orthodox Christian in south,w/ Muslim mixed throughout. “Ethnic cleansing” occurred in 1992 in Kosovo – ethnic Albanians (Muslim) were severely oppressed by Serbian nationalists “Ethnic cleansing” occurred in 1992 in Kosovo – ethnic Albanians (Muslim) were severely oppressed by Serbian nationalists