APHG Unit III A-List
Culture, Diffusion & Language
This is your essential vocabulary list for the first half of Unit 3 in AP Human Geography. These terms cover the foundation of cultural patterns—how people live, speak, and shape the world around them. You’ll see these words in class, on quizzes, and straight up on the AP exam. Each word includes an academic definition, a basic version to keep it 100, and an example so you really get the concept. Use this list to study, review, and flex your geographic knowledge like a pro. Let’s get into it.
1. Culture
Academic: The shared beliefs, practices, values, and material traits of a group of people that define their way of life.
Basic: The way people live, including what they believe, do, and create—basically their whole vibe.
Example: Wearing jeans and celebrating the 4th of July are parts of American culture.
2. Cultural trait
Academic: A single element of normal practice in a culture, such as food, clothing, or language.
Basic: One small part of a culture, like how people dress or what they eat.
Example: Using chopsticks is a cultural trait common in East Asian cultures.
3. Cultural complex
Academic: A group of interrelated cultural traits that define a particular culture’s practices.
Basic: A combo of cultural habits that go together and define a group’s style.
Example: American football culture includes tailgating, team colors, and watching the Super Bowl.
4. Folk culture
Academic: Culture traditionally practiced by small, isolated, homogeneous groups, often passed down through generations.
Basic: Old-school traditions from small, close-knit groups that go way back.
Example: The Amish community in Pennsylvania practices folk culture.
5. Popular culture
Academic: Culture found in large, diverse societies that spreads quickly through media and communication technologies.
Basic: Mainstream trends and styles that go viral or blow up online.
Example: Listening to pop music or watching Marvel movies is part of popular culture.
6. Cultural hearth
Academic: The geographic origin of a culture or cultural trait from which it spreads.
Basic: The OG spot where a culture or idea first popped off.
Example: Hip-hop culture began in the Bronx, New York—a cultural hearth.
7. Sense of place
Academic: The feeling or perception people have about a location based on experiences or cultural meaning.
Basic: How a place feels to someone because of their memories or the local culture—it hits different.
Example: New Orleans has a strong sense of place because of its music, food, and history.
8. Placelessness
Academic: The loss of uniqueness in a place due to the spread of popular culture and standardization.
Basic: When every place starts looking the same—like a mall copy-paste situation.
Example: Seeing the same chain restaurants in cities all over the world shows placelessness.
9. Cultural landscape
Academic: The visible imprint of human activity and culture on the environment.
Basic: How people leave their mark on a place by building stuff or using land.
Example: Mosques with minarets across the Middle East are part of the cultural landscape.
10. Sequent occupance
Academic: The idea that different groups leave their cultural mark on a place over time.
Basic: How history stacks—different groups move in and leave behind their culture.
Example: Rome shows sequent occupance with ancient ruins, medieval churches, and modern buildings.
11. Built environment
Academic: Human-made surroundings like buildings, roads, and parks that form the setting for human activity.
Basic: Everything people build around them—like cities, bridges, or parks.
Example: New York City’s skyscrapers and subways are part of its built environment.
12. Relocation diffusion
Academic: The spread of a cultural trait through the physical movement of people.
Basic: When people move and bring their food, music, or other culture with them—like a vibe delivery.
Example: Mexican food spreading to the U.S. through immigrants is relocation diffusion.
13. Contagious diffusion
Academic: The rapid, widespread diffusion of a cultural trait or innovation throughout a population.
Basic: When something spreads like a meme—fast and everywhere.
Example: TikTok trends going viral is an example of contagious diffusion.
14. Hierarchical diffusion
Academic: The spread of a cultural trait from people or places of authority to others.
Basic: When influencers or big cities start a trend and it trickles down.
Example: Fashion trends starting in Paris and spreading to smaller cities show hierarchical diffusion.
15. Language family
Academic: A group of languages that share a common but distant ancestral language.
Basic: Languages that are distant cousins—they go way back.
Example: Spanish and English are part of the Indo-European language family.
16. Language branch
Academic: A smaller group of languages within a language family that have more recent connections.
Basic: A closer family of languages with more similarities.
Example: Germanic is a branch of the Indo-European family, including English and German.
17. Dialect
Academic: A regional variation of a language with distinct pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary.
Basic: The way people talk in different places—even if it’s the same language.
Example: Saying “y’all” in the South is part of a Southern dialect of English.
18. Isogloss
Academic: A geographic boundary where different language features meet.
Basic: A map line showing where people say things differently.
Example: The boundary between areas that say “soda” vs. “pop” is an isogloss.
19. Lingua franca
Academic: A common language used by people with different native languages to communicate.
Basic: A shared language that helps people understand each other, even if it’s not their first.
Example: English is often used as a lingua franca in international business.
20. Language extinction
Academic: The process by which a language no longer has any living speakers.
Basic: When nobody speaks a language anymore—it’s gone for good.
Example: Latin is an extinct language—it’s not spoken as a native language today.
