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.

   Synonym: vulgate

   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.

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

3. Language unique to a particular group of people.

   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.

   Vatican II 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: 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
• 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)

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

   Synonyms: common, everyday, indigenous, ordinary, vulgar, colloquial

   • 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.

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

   Synonyms: native, indigenous

   a vernacular disease

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

   Synonym: folk

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

   An English vernacular name for Rosa multiflora is multiflora rose.

Antonyms

• unvernacular

Hyponyms

• neo-vernacular

Derived terms

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

 

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.
• “vernacular”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →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]
  • (Southern Brazil) 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

		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