vernacular

English

WOTD – 1 March 2010

Etymology

From Latin vernāculus (“domestic, indigenous, of or pertaining to home-born slaves”), from verna (“a native, a home-born slave (one born in his master's house)”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /vəˈnækjələ/, /vəˈnækjʊlə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /vɚˈnækjəlɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ækjʊlə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: ver‧nac‧u‧lar

Noun

vernacular (plural vernaculars)

1. The language of a people or a national language.

   Synonyms: vulgate, vulgar

   Coordinate terms: lingua franca, link language, vehicular language

   The vernacular of the United States is English.

2. Everyday speech or dialect, including colloquialisms, as opposed to standard, literary, liturgical, or scientific idiom.

   Near-synonyms: basilect, demotic

   Street vernacular can be quite different from what is heard elsewhere.

3. Language unique to a particular group of people.

   Near-synonyms: jargon, argot, dialect, slang

   For those of a certain age, hiphop vernacular might just as well be a foreign language.

4. A language lacking standardization or a written form.
5. Indigenous spoken language, as distinct from a literary or liturgical language such as Ecclesiastical Latin.

   Synonyms: vulgate, vulgar

   Vatican II, a church council in the 1960s, allowed the celebration of the mass in the vernacular.

6. (architecture) A style of architecture involving local building materials and styles; not imported.

Descendants

• →⇒ Irish: béarlagair

Translations

national language

Afrikaans: volkstaal Armenian: մայրենի լեզու (mayreni lezu) Bulgarian: народен език m (naroden ezik) Catalan: vernacle (ca) m Danish: national sprog n Dutch: landstaal (nl) f, volkstaal (nl) f, ambtstaal f Finnish: kansalliskieli French: langue nationale (fr) Galician: vernáculo (gl) m Georgian: დედა-ენა (deda-ena), ადგილობრივი დიალექტი (adgilobrivi dialekṭi), კილო (ḳilo) German: Nationalsprache (de) f Greek: δημώδης (el) f (dimódis), (colloquial) ντοπιολαλιά (el) f (ntopiolaliá) Icelandic: þjóðtunga f Italian: vernacolo (it) m, idioma (it) m, parlata (it) f, lingua nazionale f, dialetto (it) m Polish: język wernakularny (pl) m, język rodzimy m, język narodowy (pl) m Portuguese: vernáculo (pt) m Russian: наро́дный язы́к m (naródnyj jazýk), ме́стный диале́кт m (méstnyj dialékt) Serbo-Croatian: narodni jezik Turkish: ulusal dil

everyday speech

Afrikaans: omgangstaal Armenian: ժողովրդական լեզու (žoġovrdakan lezu), խոսակցական լեզու (xosakcʻakan lezu) Bulgarian: народен език m (naroden ezik) Chinese: Mandarin: 白話 / 白话 (zh) (báihuà) Czech: vernakulární jazyk m, nespisovný jazyk m, hovorový jazyk m, lidová řeč f Danish: daglig tale c Dutch: volkstaal (nl) f, omgangstaal (nl) f, volksmond (nl) m, spreektaal (nl) f Finnish: arkikieli (fi), kansankieli (fi), puhekieli (fi) French: vernaculaire (fr) m Galician: vernáculo (gl) m Georgian: დიალექტი (dialekṭi), ადგილობრივი ენა (adgilobrivi ena) German: Umgangssprache (de) f, Vernakularsprache f, Vernakulärsprache f, Volksmund (de) m Greek: δημώδης (el) f (dimódis) Interlingua: vernacular, lingua vulgar Irish: teanga na coitiantachta f, teanga an phobail f, teanga choiteann f, teanga dhúchais f Italian: vernacolare (it) m, parlata (it) f, linguaggio (it) m Japanese: 方言 (ja) (hōgen) Korean: 방언(方言) (ko) (bang'eon), 사투리 (ko) (saturi) Latin: (please verify) vernaculus, (please verify) vernacularis Luxembourgish: Ëmgangssprooch f Norwegian: Bokmål: dagligtale (no) m Nynorsk: daglegtale m Polish: język wernakularny (pl) m, język nieliteracki m, język potoczny m, mowa ludowa f, język obiegowy m Portuguese: vernáculo (pt) m Russian: просторе́чие (ru) n (prostoréčije), наро́дная речь f (naródnaja rečʹ) Slovak: vernakulárny jazyk m, nespisovný jazyk m, hovorový jazyk m, ľudová reč f Swahili: maneno ya mtaani Swedish: folkmun (sv) c, vardagsspråk (sv) Telugu: (pranthiya) Turkish: konuşma dili (tr) Volapük: komunapük

language unique to a particular group of people

Afrikaans: dialek (af), sosiolek Bulgarian: професиона́лен жарго́н m (profesionálen žargón) Dutch: dialect (nl) Finnish: slangi (fi), murre (fi) French: dialecte (fr) m, idiome (fr) m, patois (fr) m Georgian: ჟარგონი (ka) (žargoni) German: Dialekt (de) m, Idiom (de) n Greek: διάλεκτος (el) f (diálektos), ιδίωμα (el) n (idíoma) Italian: dialetto (it) m, idioma (it), parlata (it) f Polish: dialekt (pl) m, narzecze (pl) n, gwara (pl) f Portuguese: fala (pt) f Russian: профессиона́льный жарго́н n (professionálʹnyj žargón) Spanish: idioma (es) m, dialecto (es) m

spoken language as opposed to literary or liturgical

Afrikaans: spreektaal Danish: folkesprog n Dutch: volkstaal (nl) f, stamtaal (nl) f Finnish: kansankieli (fi) French: langue vulgaire (fr) f German: Volkssprache (de) f Italian: vernacolo (it) m Polish: język potoczny m Portuguese: vernáculo (pt) m Spanish: lengua vernácula Swedish: folkspråk (sv) n

Further reading

• vernacular on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Adjective

vernacular (comparative more vernacular, superlative most vernacular)

2. Of or pertaining to everyday language, as opposed to standard, literary, liturgical, or scientific idiom.

   Near-synonyms: common, everyday, indigenous, ordinary, vulgar, colloquial, basilectal, demotic

   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 111:

     There are blacktips, silvertips, bronze whalers, black whalers, spinner sharks, and bignose sharks. These of course are vernacular names, but this is one case where the scientific nomenclature does not clarify the species, since it is now being revised.

4. Belonging to the country of one's birth; one's own by birth or by nature.

   Near-synonyms: native, indigenous; endemic

   a vernacular disease

6. (architecture) Of or related to local building materials and styles; not imported.

   Synonym: folk

   Coordinate terms: primitive, naive

8. (art) Connected to a collective memory; not imported.
10. (taxonomy) Not attempting to use the rules of a taxonomic code, especially, not using scientific Latin.

    Synonym: common

    Hypernym: nonsystematic

    An English vernacular name for Rosa multiflora is multiflora rose.

Antonyms

• unvernacular

Hyponyms

• neo-vernacular

Derived terms

• vernacular architecture
• vernacular dance
• vernacular dialect
• vernacularism
• vernacularist
• vernacular language
• vernacular name
• vernacular school
• vernacular variety

Translations

pertaining to everyday language

Bulgarian: народен (bg) (naroden), диалектен (dialekten) Catalan: vernacle (ca), vernacular Czech: vernakulární, lidový (cs), nespisovný, hovorový (cs) Finnish: arkikielinen (fi), kansankielinen, puhekielinen (fi) French: en langage courant German: umgangssprachlich (de), Umgangs- (de) (noun prefix) Hungarian: köznyelvi (hu), hétköznapi (hu) Icelandic: þjóðtungu- Irish: dúchasach Italian: vernacolare (it) Manx: dooghyssagh Polish: wernakularny (pl), ludowy (pl), nieliteracki, potoczny (pl), obiegowy (pl) Portuguese: vernáculo (pt), vernacular Russian: (language of nationality) наро́дный (ru) (naródnyj), ме́стный (ru) (méstnyj); (non-standard language) просторе́чный (ru) n (prostoréčnyj), разгово́рный (ru) n (razgovórnyj) Slovak: vernakulárny, ľudový (sk), nespisovný, hovorový Spanish: vernáculo (es) Turkish: vernaküler

of or related to local building materials and styles; not imported — see also folk

Bulgarian: местен (bg) (mesten) Czech: vernakulární, lidový (cs) Polish: wernakularny (pl), ludowy (pl) Russian: наро́дный (ru) (naródnyj) Slovak: vernakulárny, ľudový (sk)

Further reading

• “vernacular”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “vernacular”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “vernacular”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /veʁ.na.kuˈlaʁ/ [veɦ.na.kuˈlah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /veʁ.na.kuˈlaʁ/ [veɦ.na.kuˈlah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /veɾ.na.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /veʁ.na.kuˈlaʁ/ [veʁ.na.kuˈlaχ]
  • (Porto Alegre) IPA^(key): /veɻ.na.kuˈlaɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vɨɾ.nɐ.kuˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vɨɾ.nɐ.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɨɾ.nɐ.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /vɨɾ.nɐ.kuˈla.ɾi/

Adjective

vernacular m or f (plural vernaculares)

1. vernacular (pertaining to everyday language)

   Synonym: vernáculo

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vernaculaire.

Adjective

vernacular m or n (feminine singular vernaculară, masculine plural vernaculari, feminine and neuter plural vernaculare)

1. vernacular

Declension

Declension of vernacular

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	vernacular		vernaculară		vernaculari	vernaculare
	definite	vernacularul		vernaculara		vernacularii	vernacularele
genitive- dative	indefinite	vernacular		vernaculare		vernaculari	vernaculare
	definite	vernacularului		vernacularei		vernacularilor	vernacularelor

References

• vernacular in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN