Glossary and Pronunciation Guide

Abbey Church of Saint-Denis: san-den-nay

Estimated to be the first Gothic structure to have been built.

Abbot Suger: abbot soo-jay

Designer of the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis.

acacia: ah-kay-sha

A tree of the pea family, usually having finely divided leaves and clusters of white flowers.

akuaba: ah-coo-ah-ba

Abstract human forms of fertility dolls and figures in the Ashanti culture.

akuamma: ah-coo-ah-ma

Plural form of akuba.

Amiens: ah-mee-en

A town in France where one of the Cathedrals of Notre-Dame is built.

Arctic:

Relating to the area around the North Pole.

Ark:

The Ark of the Covenant. The sacred cabinet in a synagogue where the scrolls of the Torah is kept.

Ashanti: a-shawn-tee

An ethnic group of Ghana, Africa.

Asir: ah-szeer

The name of a range of mountains and a national park in western Saudi Arabia.

BCE:

Before Common Era

banteng: ban-ting

A wild ox of southern and southeastern Asia, domesticated to farm labor.

Banyan: ban-yen

A fig tree India, Burma and other parts of Asia, whose branches have hanging roots that grow down to the ground and start new trunks.

Baobab: boa-bab

Tall tropical tree with very thick trunk and an edible, oblong, gourd-like, woolly fruit (monkey bread). The strong fibers of its bark are used especially for making rope, paper and cloth.

Barong: bar-rong

Mythical creature of Balinese folklore.

CE:

Common Era

Candoblé: can-dough-blay

An Afro-Atlantic traditional religion originating in the slave communities of Brazil

castanha de macaco: ca-ston-ha deh mah-ca-coe

Native Amazon rainforest tree that can live to at least 1,400 years old.

Chartes Cathedral: sh-art cathedral

A 12th century cathedral in the southwest part of Paris.

cowrie:

Highly polished, usually brightly colored shell of a marine gastropod.

curassow: cue-ras-o

Any one of several large, turkey-like, arboreal birds found in tropical South and Central America.

cusp:

The point formed by the intersection of two arches (Harris, 21).

Daedalus: day-dah-los

Architect and sculptor that built the Labyrinth in Crete.

Durga: dur-gah

Hindu warrior goddess.

ecology:

The study of the interrelationship of organisms and their environment.

effigy: f-i-gee

An image or representation of a person or animal.

endangered:

Plants and animals that are subjected to harm or loss that result in a reduction of their numbers.

epiphytes: epp-ah-fight

A plant that grows non-parasitically upon another, deriving its nutrients and water from rain, air and dust.

extinct:

No longer existing.

Exu: ah-shu

An intermediary spirit in the Ashanti culture.

fetish:

Object believed to be useful in bringing about good or averting evil; an offering to a god.

Ganesha: ga-nesh-ah

The son of Shiva in the Hindu faith.

Giorgio Vasari: gee-or-gee-oh vah-sarry

Italian artist and historian.

Goa Gajah: Go-ah Gah

 

gothic:

Relating to a style of architecture developing in Western Europe in the 12th Century.

Gujarat: goo-jar-aht

A region in northwest India along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.

Heian: Hay-an

A Japanese art style from 794 to 1185. This style is the first time a truly Japanese spirit is recognized.

hermitage: her-mit-ege

A secluded retreat.

Hiroshima: He-row-shaw-ma

A city in Japan on which the first atomic bomb used in warfare was dropped.

Ile-de-France:

An area surrounding the city of Paris in the 11th to 12th century.

inua: inn-u-ah

Eskimo word for "Spirit."

Inuit: inn-new-it

Artic North America Indians. Inuit or Yuit is the name the Artic Indians prefer to call themselves. Means "people" in their language.

iris lortetii:

A member of the iris family with large pink blooms believed to only have four small populations remaining in Israel.

Javan: jah-van

Of Java, its people, or their language.

kala: kah-lah

A carved image above the doorway to a Hindu temple.

kayak: ki-yak

An Eskimo canoe made of animal skins, usually sealskins, completely covering a wooden frame with a single opening in the center for a person to sit and paddle.

Knossos: nah-sos

A palace on the island of Crete.

Kwakiutl: qua-ku-til

A member of any one of various American Indian tribes of the northern Pacific coast, known for their shamanism and potlatches.

Krakatoa: crack-ah-toe-a

An island of Indonesia being studied for rainforest re-growth following its total destruction due to volcanic activity in 1883.

labyrinth:

A maze or complex passageway.

liana: le-on-ah

A woody tropical vine with roots in the ground and climbs, as around tree trunks.

loris: lore-is

A lemur of India that is slow moving and nocturnal, have very large eyes, no tail and live mostly in trees.

manioc: man-e-awk

A member of the Manihot esculenta family (locally called cassava, manioc, yuca, aypi and tapioca). A cultivated tropical shrubby plant grown for its fleshy poisonous but edible root stalks. Excellent source of starch but contains high amounts of cyanide. The poison is removed by squeezing the pulverized tubers in water then laying them out to dry.

Makah: ma-ko

Pacific Northwest Cost tribe. Means "generous with food."

malocca: ma-lo-ka

A community longhouse of the Tukanoan tribe in Colombia that is the home of several closely related families.

mangabey: mang-ga-bay

A tropical monkey having a very long tail, noted for the ease with which it is domesticated.

medieval:

Relating to the time of the Middle Ages, 1150 to 1550.

mihrab: me-rahb

A niche in a Moslem mosque that faces the quibla wall that indicates the direction of Mecca.

mosque: moss-k

A building used by Muslims for worship.

Notre-Dame: no-tra-dahm

French for "Our Lady, the Virgin Mary."

oculi: ah-cue-lie

Plural of oculus, a round window at the summit of a dome.

origami: ore-a-gahm-e

the Japanese art of paper folding.

Orinoco: or-in-o-co

A river in Venezuela. One of South America's longest rivers.

oryx: ore-x

An antelope with long, nearly straight horns.

pied: pie-d

Variegated with spots

picathartes: pica-thart-ees

A rock dwelling bird also known as the "baled crow."

Pima:

An agricultural tribe in southern Arizona and northwestern Mexico.

poleng: po-lang

A black and white checked cloth used in Hindu religious rituals of Bali to represent the balance of dark & light (order and chaos).

portal:

A gate, door or entrance.

quibla: key-blah

The wall in a Moslem mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca.

Rabari: rah-bar-ee

Wandering nomadic Hindu herders from the Gujarat region of Northwest India.

rafflesia: ra-fleez-ee-ah

Any one of a group of parasitic Malaysian plants without stems or leaves, and with a single large flower, sometimes 3 feet in diameter.

rainforest:

A tropical woodland marked by greater than 80 inches of yearly rainfall.

Rangda: rang-dah

An evil witch of the Hindu culture.

Reims: ram

A town in France where one of the Cathedrals of Notre-Dame is built.

sacred:

A place, person or object that is entitled to honor and respect: holy or blessed.

Sadako Sasaki: sa-dah-ko sa-saw-key

The 12 year-old girl in the story Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr.

Sardinia: sar-din-ee-ah

A large island near Italy.

savanna:

A tropical or subtropical grassland with scattered trees and drought-resistant undergrowth.

shaman: shaw-man

A spiritual leader who is said to have special powers to cure the sick, to find the hidden meaning or control events. Keeper of the tribal lore and rituals, arbitrator of social customs.

shekinah: she-kine-ah

Hebrew word meaning eternal glory.

Shiva: she-vah

One of the supreme gods of the complex Hindu pantheon, revered by Shivaist Hindus including the Rabari and Balinese peoples. Credited with the creation of the universe and the destruction of ignorance and outmoded ways of being.

shrine:

A place where devotion is paid to a religious person or object.

Sisiutl: sis-sew-til

A two headed serpent of the supernatural characters. Guarded the house of the sky people in Kwakiutl culture

Sotatsu: so-tat-su

A Japanese artist, 1600-1640, who made large scale decorative screen paintings.

sub-arctic:

Relating to the regions just outside of the Arctic circle.

synagogue:

a place of worship used by the Jewish people.

Taoism: tdow-ism

Chinese religion and philosophy advocating simplicity, selflessness, etc.

Taoist: tdow-ist

A believer in Taoism.

temple:

A place of worship or devotion or of special purpose.

temperate:

An area with a moderate temperature and climate.

Thesus: thee-see-us

Hero of Athens. Made his way through the labyrinth at Crete and killed the Minotaur.

threatened:

Facing serious, but not immediate, danger of extinction.

Tohono O'odham:

Indian tribe in the 1300's now extinct.

Toran: tore-an

Embroidered door hanging of the Rabari culture.

Tukanoan: too-can-o-an

A tribe living in the Amazon rainforest of Columbia.

yin/yang