VERNACULAR


Meaning of VERNACULAR in English

I. R və(r)ˈnakyələr, - R vəˈnakyələ(r adjective

Etymology: Latin vernacul us homeborn, native (from verna homeborn slave, native) + English -ar

1.

a. : using a language or dialect native to a region or country rather than a literary, cultured, or foreign language

vernacular speakers

Ceylon had 336 English and 4701 vernacular schools — Origins & Purpose

in … this vernacular poetry, the effect of Latin verse forms appears — H.O.Taylor

b. : belonging to or being a language or dialect developed in and spoken and used by the people of a particular place, region, or country in a form (as a dialect or a variety of cant, slang, jargon, or argot) considered nonstandard or substandard usually as contrasted with a literary or cultured form

his freedom from eccentricity, his gumption, to use the vernacular word — William James

only when a language … has ceased to be vernacular , does its form become unchanging — L.H.Gray

slang widely used by … adults in the vernacular speech of the street and country — H.D.Rinsland

Hebrew … translated into the vernacular Aramaic — J.R.Dummelow

the various vernacular languages of the region — Cecil Hobbs

c. : of, relating to, expressed in, or being a dialect or variety of a language normally or naturally spoken by all the speakers of a language

crudely written, in a vernacular style that is often tiring — Granville Hicks

d. : being the name of a plant or animal in the vernacular language or common native speech as distinguished from the Latin nomenclature of scientific classification

black alder and winterberry are vernacular names of Ilex verticillata

2. : of, relating to, characteristic of, or expressed in the style of a place, period, or group

the vernacular culture of our people — L.R.Beltran

especially : of, relating to, or being the common building style of a period or place : employing the commonest or most typical architectural forms and decoration

thatch and half-timber construction … of English vernacular building — Harry Batsford & Charles Fry

• ver·nac·u·lar·ly adverb

II. noun

( -s )

1. : a vernacular language, expression, or mode of expression: as

a. : the native language or dialect of a country, region, or person

autobiography of a Nigerian woman was dictated in the vernacular — British Book News

the English vernacular of Ireland

b. : a language that is spoken or written naturally at a particular period : living language

read Greek and Latin as energetically as he read Italian and French and other vernaculars — Gilbert Highet

an imported vernacular was widely current — Ruth Dean

c. : an expression or mode of expression natural to or used by a group or class

has become a part of ethnological, even … of literary vernacular — Gladys A. Reichard

the findings of accredited biblical scholarship are translated into the vernaculars of childhood and youth — W.L.Sperry

believed signs were the vernacular of the deaf — J.S.Long

d. : the variety of a language or an expression in this variety commonly spoken by all or a part of the users of the language as distinguished from a written, literary, or cultured variety

state the problem in simple vernacular — Anthony Leviero

in the inelegant vernacular , “So what?” — C.R.Rogers

e. : a vernacular name of a plant or animal

2. : a style of artistic or technical and especially architectural expression employing the commonest forms, materials, and decorations of a place, period, or group

an impressive structure of white marble, expressed in a Renaissance vernacular — American Guide Series: Minnesota

builders, masons, and thatchers developed their forms of vernacular in response to climatic conditions — Norman Wymer

Synonyms: see dialect

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.