vernacular (adj./n.)

A term used in SOCIOLINGUISTICS to refer to the indigenous LANGUAGE or DIALECT of a SPEECH community, e.g. the vernacular of Liverpool, Berkshire, Jamaica, etc. The study of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) in the United States has been the focus of several linguistic studies since the 1960s, though terminology has varied repeatedly (terms include Black Vernacular English, Vernacular Black English, Black English Vernacular, Afro-American English, or simply Black English, with associated abbreviations, e.g. BVE, BEV). PIDGIN languages are sometimes called contact vernaculars. Vernaculars are usually seen in contrast to such notions as STANDARD, LINGUA FRANCA, etc., chiefly in their lack of conscious attention to its style of speech. The vernacular principle is the view that it is this variety which will convey the best insight into the natural speech of a community, and the one which will show the closest connection with the language’s history.