Vernacular Language Essay

Submitted By JSpann
Words: 480
Pages: 2

Vernacular language is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is a second or foreign language to a population.

Vernacular language is the native language of a specific population during the middle Ages. Latin and French were the most commonly used for literature. The general population did not have the ability to read or write. Mainly, the only people who learned how to read and write were the wealthy and upper class citizens. Eventually the general population learned to read and write using their own language or in other words vernacular. The vernacular language is called the language of romance. Vernacular language derived from Latin and also became the language of the people of Rome that they used every day.
When many different languages began to become established, Latin was used less and less and it became harder to understand people from different provinces within the country. Latin was not easily understood or read for anyone except for the educated people of the times. Latin began to change with different dialects coming together throughout as well.
Literacy with woman began increasing in the 12th century. Latin was still customary to some social classes, but the vernacular was widening. Poetry by trobairitz and troubadour had started being written in the vernacular. Having literature and poetry in a vernacular recognized a wider audience to accept the romantic literature, (Sayre, 2010). The acceleration of the vernacular was affiliated with the Renaissance; however it had not been achieved at this time. The earliest status of the language can be pointed out by its name

“Vernacular” acquired from the Latin word Verna which mean “a household slave”, (Vernacular, 1987). There are many different kinds of vernacular languages. The one that interest me the most is Black vernacular language. Black Vernacular English, a dialect at times used by as many as 80 to 90 percent of African Americans