Language as routinely spoken rather than as a literary form.
Comment: In modern English the word has probably gotten most usage in connection with the Latin mass, formerly permitted only in Latin, being allowed "in the vernacular," i.e., in languages people really speak. The term is of little value in linguistics, where it is recognized that spoken language exhibits countless styles ("registers") all of which are arguably vernacular in context. Similarly it fails to capture anything very useful about most literary traditions. That said, the word persists, perhaps partly because of its strong association with what is ordinary as against what is highfalutin.The term has been extended, not always comfortably, beyond language to describe architecture, religion, or even disease that is local or "folk" in character or distribution. Thus some writers speak of "vernacular Catholicism," say, to refer to Catholicism as practiced, with all its local variations, rather than Catholicism as articulated by its central authorities. "Vernacular architecture" uses local materials and traditional styles and modes of construction.
Definition Revised: 2009-04-06
Script Last Modified: 2025-02-04
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