Concept in Definition ABC

Vernacular means proper to a place. Thus, it is possible to speak of a folklore, a architecture or a vernacular name. However, the word we analyze presents its true meaning in the context of the linguistics, the discipline who scientifically studies languages.

The language of our personal and family environment is known as mother tongue. In this way, a Japanese child living in Mexico will have a mother tongue, the Japanese that she has learned in the family environment and, at the same time, will have a vernacular, the Spanish that he learns at school and in his environment Social. Thus, we can define vernacular language as that which is normally spoken in a territory determined.

The linguistic situation in Spain, Mexico and Argentina

All the languages ​​spoken in Spain come from Latin, except Euskera, which has an unknown origin. Thus, in the Kingdom of Spain there are the following vernacular languages: Spanish, Galician, Catalan and Basque. Is classification

It is not the only one, since some linguists maintain that both Valencian and Majorcan are different forms of Catalan.

On the other hand, in some territories other minority languages ​​are spoken (Aranese in an area of ​​Catalonia, Bable in Asturias, Aragonese fabla or Caló in the gypsy community, among others). Due to this linguistic complexity, there are official languages ​​and others that are not. Which officers are studied in the education system and are used in the administration and those that do not have this legal recognition are minority linguistic modalities and with a marginal literary tradition.

A similar situation occurs in Mexico, where Spanish is the official language but they are also spoken a series of indigenous languages, such as Nahualtl, Mixtec, Zapotec and more than 6o languages Amerindians.

In Argentina the only official language is Spanish, although some ethnic minorities speak Quechua, Toba or Pilagá, as well as a number of dialects. Therefore, Spain, Mexico and Argentina are multilingual countries despite the fact that Spanish is the official language throughout the territory.

Minority languages ​​in education systems

What rule In general, almost all countries have a common official language throughout the territory and in some cases a series of co-official languages ​​in certain areas. This circumstance means that all those minority languages ​​that are outside the educational system become endangered languages.

It must be taken into account that if a community of speakers cannot learn their language and culture in the conventional educational system, little by little their way of speaking disappears or becomes a rarity cultural. In this sense, it must be remembered that in France there is an official language, French, along with a series of autochthonous languages ​​that are outside the educational system, such as Corsican, Occitan, Catalan, Breton, Alsatian or Gaston, all of them on the way to disappearance.

Photos: Fotolia - asantosg / berc

Topics in Vernacular