Meaning of vernacular in English

vernacular

noun [ C usually singular ]

/vəˈnæk.jə.lər/ us

/vɚˈnæk.jə.lɚ/

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the form of a language that a particular group of speakers use naturally, especially in informal situations:

The Spanish I learned at school is very different from the local vernacular of this Mexican village.

Many Roman Catholics regret the replacing of the Latin mass by the vernacular.

architecture specialized

a local style in which ordinary houses are built:

For most houses concrete is the vernacular.

We can adapt the house types to fit the vernacular.

art, music specialized

dance, music, art, etc. that is in a style liked or performed by ordinary people:

The second movement had extremes of refined string sound and robust wind playing, positioning high art next to the vernacular.

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vernacular

adjective

/vəˈnæk.jə.lər/ us

/vɚˈnæk.jə.lɚ/

using the form of a language that a particular group of speakers use naturally, especially in informal situations:

His lively vernacular style goes down well with younger viewers.

The folk tale is told in a vernacular dialect.

architecture specialized

in the local style of ordinary houses:

old stone vernacular buildings

Wright's prairie houses derived from American vernacular traditions.

art, music specialized

in a style that is liked or performed by ordinary people:

He went on to raise the vernacular practice of animal painting to extraordinary heights.

B.B. King was a musical genius who soaked up the multiple influences of America's vernacular music.

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Architecture

The visual arts in general

(Definition of vernacular from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

vernacular | American Dictionary

vernacular

noun [ C/U ]

/vərˈnæk·jə·lər, vəˈnæk-/

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the form of a language commonly spoken by the people of a particular region or by a particular group, esp. when it is different from the standard language:

[ U ] Much of his poetry derives from the American pop vernacular.

vernacular

adjective us

/vərˈnæk·jə·lər, vəˈnæk-/

a vernacular expression

(Definition of vernacular from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of vernacular

vernacular

They were also bending the vernaculars to their will and making them do new things.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The final chapters focus on education in and attitudes toward vernaculars.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Rather than drawing on reified colonial constructions, planning efforts should concentrate on urban vernaculars, which are inherently mixed.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Instead, as the influence of the language began to decline, several of the newly confident national vernaculars were already competing to take its place.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The second finding is that there is an indexical or even iconic relationship (as argued here) between vernaculars and masculinity.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The aim is to situate spoken vernaculars, and in particular their nonstandard features, within the context of their trajectory of development.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Because of the social significance of writing, the use of urban vernaculars in written form in particular may serve as a form of social legitimation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

By trying to claim the local vernaculars as government property, the administration simply cut itself off from the people it would rule.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Thus, the potential for this kind of reversal is always likely to be present in vernaculars.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The present study compares the phoneme isolation performance of two groups of children speaking two different regional vernaculars.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A substantial and rising proportion of women could be reached by information in the trade language and vernaculars.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Rather, its local vernaculars cemented distance between the mass of urban society and an emergent middle-class political and cultural elite.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Generally, the use of these vernaculars was independent of people's religious affiliation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The double morphological forms illustrate the variation within urban vernaculars.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Urban vernaculars have been studied and analyzed with respect to urban contexts almost exclusively.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of vernacular?

Translations of vernacular

in Chinese (Traditional)

本地話，方言, 白話, （建築的）本地風格，民間風格…

Meaning of vernacular in English

vernacular | American Dictionary

vernacular

Examples of vernacular

Translations of vernacular

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