THE 5 MOST PROMINENT EXAMPLES OF ACCULTURATION - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The main examples of acculturation are related to religious beliefs, the loss of the native language or the intervention of foreign elements in the original culture.

The most palpable examples are found in immigrant families who have to adapt to the culture of the country to which they emigrate.

As a result, they must acquire new customs or norms of social behavior, even when they retain their own cultural features such as language, dress, religion, gastronomy, among others.

The acculturation process results from the contact and cultural exchange of the country where a person or social group is established. In this process, new values ​​and practices are acquired from a culture other than one's own.

This "cultural borrowing" process is two-way; the host country or community also acquires cultural features of the exchange. This is modifying that society over time, from the human and social point of view.

Five examples of acculturation

1- Loss of the original language

The colonization process in Latin America and the United States caused the almost total loss of the languages ​​of the original peoples of the American continent, despite the fact that many ethnic groups, already reduced, still retain their ancestral forms of communication.

An example of this are the languages ​​of the native peoples of Latin America. In Mexico, the Nahuatl, Chol, Mazatec, and Totonac languages ​​disappeared, as did Aymara and Araona in Bolivia, Saliba-Piaroa in Venezuela, or Quechua in Peru and Ecuador. Although still spoken in some regions, Spanish is the predominant language.

The loss of the Muskogi or Cherokee language, typical of the Indians who lived in the southeastern territories of the United States, is another example of the acculturation process in which the dominant culture generally prevails.

2- Religious beliefs

Religion is another element present in the acculturation processes that take place in societies.

For example, during the Spanish and Portuguese conquest in the American continent, native peoples and African black slaves had to acquire a new religion imposed by the missions.

However, in the process of acculturation, religious syncretism took place, through which the gods of the blacks were assimilated to the Catholic saints.

3- Migration

The massive displacement of nationals from one country to another for different reasons (wars, search for better living conditions, among other reasons) results in the formation of ghettos or colonies in the territory that receives them.

These migrants, especially the older ones, maintain their uses, beliefs and customs. This is another example of acculturation.

This does not happen with the second generation of immigrants, who generally end up fully adapting to the culture of the country where they were born, leaving behind the predominant features of their parents' culture.

In these cases, the use of the parents' mother tongue, gastronomic customs and, on occasions, even religious beliefs and political ideology are lost.

4- Consumption of foreign products

Acculturation can also be experienced in various sectors and consumer areas of a country such as gastronomy, music and fashion.

After a certain period, the adoption of new customs in foreigners is generated through acculturation.

5- Change of accent and use of foreign words

When people spend a lot of time living in another country, acculturation can manifest itself through the adoption of different words and terms, even if it is a country with the same language as the immigrant.

It also occurs when it comes to people who speak several languages, such as "Spanglish", which is spoken in Puerto Rico because it is a territory with two languages.

This phenomenon is also appreciated in Gibraltar, or with the way of speaking of the so-called Chicanos (Mexicans living in the United States).

The best expressions of acculturation can be seen in large cities such as New York or London, which have entire suburbs where foreigners live whose population has integrated into the country, preserving their own idiomatic and cultural roots.

References

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3. Spindler, GD (1963) Education and Culture: Anthropological Approaches. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, New York.
4. Acculturation. Consulted of sociologydictionary.org
5. Examples of acculturation. Consulted of examples.co
6. Acculturation. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org
7. Examples of acculturation. Recovered from examples.org