Vernacular – the real meaning!!!

Just read few days back in a famous book titled ‘An Autobiography’ by honourable Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru about the meaning of the term ‘Vernacular’. Got a shock of my life when I came across its real meaning and started scolding myself for the moments when I have used the word for our regional languages (of course unknowingly). It gave me my first topic to start my blog with.

The original meaning of the term, as per the book, is ‘the language of the slaves’. What……. SLAVES… I closed and reopened my eyes 2-3 times and reread the sentence… is this real what I am reading or has something got into my eyes… but no… the meaning was right…

When I checked the original meaning of the word on various online sources, they say that the word has originally been derived from the latin word vernus or verna which means a male or female slave born in the house rather than abroad. The word was brought into the English language from the latin word vernaculus which means native, but the original still remains the same.

The term is falling out of usage in some disciplines, as it has its links to colonialism and more so to slavery and is being identified as an offensive term. However, the term is being used freely in India for our most respected regional languages and ironically very much by our well-educated journalists and writers, people who should be most aware of the terms and their meanings.

Well, to be fair, it is not their mistake either. We as Indians have learnt to adapt everything which is being used through ages, by our forefathers, parents, teachers or whatever is in popular usage. We don’t question its existence assuming that someone must have questioned it before and would have got a suitable answer and that’s the reason for its widespread usage. But alas, we cannot be more wrong. No doubt, someone might have questioned it before but chances are he/she would have left the stage without getting a suitable answer.

The normal meaning of the term reads as (as per Oxford dictionary), “the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people of a country or region”, which is a very refined meaning to the original. But, if we research deep down, we know where its origins are from. A good alternative to the term can be ‘Dialect’.

Well, to be honest, I don’t know how much my small article will affect the popular usage of the word throughout the world but may be it can put a few thinking caps on. But at least from my side, I will NEVER use the word again for our respected Indian regional languages.