Vernacular
Vernacular refers to the everyday language spoken by a particular population, contrasting with more formal language or writing. It can denote a distinct nonstandard dialect or the native language of a region, which is often different from a lingua franca— a common language used for communication among speakers of different vernaculars. Historically, vernacular languages were prevalent in contexts such as medieval Europe, where local languages like English and Italian coexisted with Latin as a lingua franca.
In modern contexts, vernacular can also apply to various forms of Arabic, where Modern Standard Arabic serves as the formal version learned in schools, while each community speaks its own dialect. Additionally, the term is used sociolinguistically to describe informal speech that is more relatable and conversational, as opposed to formal expressions. There are also nonstandard dialects within a language, which carry social implications and may be viewed unfavorably by the broader society. Overall, the concept of vernacular highlights the diverse ways spoken language manifests across different cultures and communities.
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Vernacular
Vernacular is often used to mean common, everyday speech, as distinguished from more formal language or writing. In this sense, it refers to one form of a given language, of which its counterpart is another form, and can even refer to a distinct nonstandard dialect. In another sense, the term refers to a country or region’s native language; when used in this context, vernacular is often contrasted with a lingua franca, which is a nonnative language used for communication between populations that speak different vernaculars.
Overview
The term “vernacular” has several different usages in both linguistic and sociolinguistic contexts. As a linguistic term, it describes the language native to a particular country or region, as opposed to a lingua franca, which is a nonnative language that people who do not speak the same native language can use to communicate. The most commonly given example is that of western Europe during the medieval period, where Latin was the lingua franca and languages such as English, Italian, and Dutch were vernaculars.
A more modern example of this distinction can be found in Arabic. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which is the codified version of the language used for writing or formal speaking occasions, is not learned by any Arabic speaker as a native language; rather, each population speaks its own distinctive form of Arabic, and MSA is learned in school. The various forms can differ substantially in vocabulary and pronunciation, and often Arabic speakers from different regions can only communicate with each other using MSA.
In a sociolinguistic context, vernacular describes several related but distinct concepts. The most common usage refers to informal, everyday language, as distinct from formal speech. This is similar to the example of Arabic described above, but in this context, vernacular and formal speech are not separate dialects that must be learned; rather, vernacular is simply a more natural and relaxed form of a given language, best understood as an ordinary conversational tone.
Another sociolinguistic definition of vernacular refers to nonstandard dialects within a given language. In this particular usage, the term does not refer simply to regional variations (as in the Arabic example above) but has social implications as well, as the nonstandard features of these dialects are often regarded as disfavored or undesirable within the wider population.
In all senses, the term “vernacular” describes the natural spoken language of a given population. The distinction between definitions depends largely on how widespread the vernacular is within the population and whether it is its own language or a subset of one.
Bibliography
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Cheshire, Jenny, and Dieter Stein. Taming the Vernacular: From Dialect to Written Standard Language. New York: Longman, 1997. Print.
Coupland, Nikolas, ed. The Handbook of Language and Globalization. Malden: Blackwell, 2013. Print.
Coupland, Nikolas. “The Mediated Performance of Vernaculars.” Journal of English Linguistics 37.3 (2009): 284−300. Print.
Fought, Carmen. Language and Ethnicity. New York: Cambridge UP, 2006. Print.
Ledgeway, Adam. “Philology and Linguistics: When Data Meet Theory; Two Case Studies. II: The Case of the Placiti cassinesi.” Transactions of the Philological Society 109.3 (2011): 213–19. Print.
Lemke, Sieglinde. The Vernacular Matters of American Literature. New York: Palgrave, 2009. Print.
Wogan-Browne, Jocelyn, et al., eds. The Idea of the Vernacular: An Anthology of Middle English Literary Theory, 1280–1520. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1999. Print.