vernacular

Pronunciation

• IPA: /vəˈnækjələ/ (UK); /vɚˈnækjəlɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

Formed from Latin vernāculus (“domestic, native”) with the suffix -ar,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from verna “slave born in the master's house; native”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} perhaps of Etruscan origin.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, that speaks or writes the native language of a country (1601).^[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In English the adjective is restricted to the sense of Latin vernācula vocābula, the native words of a place, as opposed to literary, learned or foreign language.^[3][4] Of a language, “naturally spoken by the people of a country” dates from about 1645, and of literary works “written in the native language” from 1661.^[7] The noun, “the native speech of a place”, is recorded from 1661 or 1706.^[5][3][4] Later extensions include the common, non-scientific names of plants and animals^[2][5] and the local style of building known as vernacular architecture.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 1601 – adjective, using the native language.^[7][3][5]
• c. 1645 – of a language, native, indigenous.^[7]
• 1661 – noun (Merriam-Webster); of literature, in the native language.^[5][7]
• 1706 – noun, the native speech (Barnhart, Etymonline).^[3][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The everyday language spoken by ordinary people of a country or region, as distinct from the literary or learned language.
2. The standard native language of a country or locality.
3. The idiom of a particular trade, profession or group; jargon.
4. The common, non-scientific name of a plant or animal.
5. A local style of architecture using local materials.

Adjective

1. Native to or commonly spoken in a particular country or region, rather than literary or foreign.
2. Expressed in or using the native language or dialect.
3. Of a style of architecture or decoration common to a region or period.
4. Of the common, non-scientific name of a plant or animal.

Word family

• vernacularly

Related words

• vulgar
• dialect
• idiom
• native

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press