Final answer:
Acculturation refers to the process of adapting to a dominant culture, while assimilation is when a minority group takes on the dominant culture's characteristics, sometimes leading to the loss of their own cultural identity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The process where a nonmajority group or member is able to master both the dominant culture and their own is called acculturation. However, when the question refers to members of a minority adapting to the dominant group's culture such that they give up their own cultural identity, this process is called assimilation.
Assimilation involves a minority individual or group taking on the characteristics of the dominant culture, which can include language, customs, values, and behaviors.
It's important to differentiate between assimilation and amalgamation, which refers to the combination of a minority and a majority group to form a new, blended culture, also known as the "melting pot" concept.
Another related term is cultural accommodation, which suggests a degree of integration into the dominant society without full adoption of all the dominant culture's components.