preliterate

1. ( anthropology; of societies) preliterate or tribal or nonindustrial.
   （人类学；指社会）史前的、部落的或者非工业的。
2. He spent a year in africa, studying the customs and traditions of preliterate tribes.
   他在非洲待了一年，研究没有文字的部落的风俗习惯。
3. A social division of ( usually preliterate) people.
   民族的一种社会分类（通常是文字出现以前的）。
4. When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities.
   当数以百万计的人们观看同一电视节目时，整个世界成了一个小村庄，社会退化到文字出现前状况。

adj

1. used of a society that has not developed writing

   Synonym:    nonliterate

2. not yet having acquired the ability to read and write