Origin of Vernacular Languages

Origins of Vernacular Languages

Before the Roman Empire fell in the early twelfth century, Latin was the dominate language. The Latin language began to dissipate during this time period. People from the most distant started to experience the language change first and it eventually traveled to the source. The change was thought of a good thing by most people and they could only dream how this change would affect them positively if it continued. An individual preferred using their vernacular rather than Latin. Latin was the language the higher educated individuals of Europe spoke along with literature up until the early twelfth century. Writers began to write in different vernacular in order to expand their audience. During the medieval times Latin played a significant role. Before the Roman Empire fell in the twelfth century, Latin was the dominate language. The Latin language was the language of most of the western world and was one of the largest known languages by people. Germany made numerous attempts for their vernacular to take over the dominancy of the Latin language but Germany was never successful until the falling of the Roman Empire. Latin accentuated itself and was the most powerful vernacular during the peak of the Roman Empire (Language and Literature, 1998).

The Latin language started to dissolve during the falling of the Roman Empire. The old English language was re-utilized by Europe. This was mostly because of Alfred the Great and the inspiration that came from his pieces of writing that were done in the Old English language. Several people used French as their vernacular due to judicial situations and traveling entertainers. Frances vernacular was mostly romance, which started from people writing down stories that were told from traveling musicians. The romance vernacular can be traced back to the Charlemagne in the twelfth century. Germany’s vernacular can be traced back to the eighth century. It was believed that in the twelfth century the French stories were changed to the Germans language and that is when their language started to be used by individuals in Europe. The German language spread across Europe and by the fourteenth century most individuals in Europe had adapted the German language. The language had to standardize the grammar or spelling of the German language yet, however, there was a large enough literacy that standardization was guaranteed to happen and that other individual from different dialects would be able to understand and read a common language. The German language played a huge role and impacted