Origins of vernacular language - Essay Example

Topic Origins of Vernacular Language Introduction In every passing era till present, people needed a way to communicate or to convey their messageto the people living around. Some of the previous civilizations had left their codes and symbols through which they used to communicate with their people. Languages are considered to be the most powerful gesture of ethnic identity .Vernacular Language is a term referred to a commonly spoken language or a dialect of a particular place or people. Each locality on this globe has a different Vernacular Language with its own origins and history behind its invention.

Some of the vernacular language carries an interesting history laced up with all its delicacies and ethical norms. Latin and the vernacular languages Originally Latin was among one of the Italic Languages which later underwent into a continuous development and in each period it showed some significant changes between the literary written language which was influenced by other languages including Celtic Languages, Etruscan and Greek. There was an obvious difference between the linguistics used by an educated class and a uneducated class.

It was in c.70 BCE to c.14 CE when Latin was at its peak and was used by poets and writers whose literature is still considered to be a golden heritage. Latin which went into a lot of brushing and grooming by other languages like Greek was then adopted by Western Church in Rome where Christianity was the most dominant religion and Latin fathers helped in compiling Christian Doctrine. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) African American Vernacular English is commonly known as a black vernacular as it is spoken and understood in a region where black masses are living in.

It is another form of English with difference of grammatical changes in English Language used or understood in America. Controversies are noted with a subject of emergence of AAVE. Some scholars says that AAVE came into existence when the people with African language communicated with Vernacular English speakers for different purposes. It is considered that west Africans came in contact with English on Plantation along the Southern Coastal States. Whereas some scholars argued with this theory and said that AAVE came into existence when restructuring of creole language is done because only a small amount of people who knew actual English were living on each coastal plantation.

To make communication better, a midway was taken in which West Africans used some common Grammatical features of English merged with creole which later formed as an African American Vernacular English. On the other hand, some scholars completely reject the emergence of AAVE as a language through Coastal Plantation. They showed on various occasions that AAVE has some similarities with English spoken in Britain and the Southern United States. They justify the issue by accepting that AAVE can be a result of both Restructuring and Inheritence.

Conclusion The content given above are a few examples of vernacular languages. It is a fact that all languages are influenced by some of the other languages and contain a progression from other languages to expand it vocabulary, grammatical foundations and to make it easy for masses to understand. Latin was a the most prominent example of a Vernacular Language as it was quickly absorbed by the barbarian who invaded Italy for the first time. References: Isaac Disraeli, Benjamin Disraeli ,Amenities of Literature Origins of Vernacular Languages: 1880 Zandile p.

Nikabinde, An Analysis on Educational Challenges in South Africa: 1997