Whereas most vernaculars have a history and heritage like a nation or people, in a family of languages, a pidgin is spoken among speakers of different languages who need a common language to communicate. Zulu is also a lingua franca (See below). Originally developing through natural linguistic and historical changes from the Dutch of European settlers, it is now he mother tongue of several very distinct ethnic groups in southern Africa.Įxamples of South African languages that qualify as vernaculars are Zulu and !Kung. Such is the case with Afrikaans in South Africa, another Germanic tongue spread by trade and settlement. English is a good example, having spread over the world from its German home as a set of dialects of some West Germanic tribes.Įven geographically limited languages may become the mother tongue of different ethnicities.
Even if a language is now the mother tongue of several ethnic groups, we can probably trace its linguistic genetics to an earlier time in history. There are many languages that are spoken by numerous ethnic groups, and there are some ethnic groups that have more than one language within the same ethnicity. Such a language thus shares in the ethnic history and identity of the people who speaks the language. The term "vernacular" refers to the form of speech, or language, of a certain people or "tribe," an ethnic language.
In the world there is only about a 50% correlation of language to ethnicity. Commonly these are: vernacular, pidgin, creole, standard, and classical. In Africa, linguistic diversity is amazing, not to say bewildering and may discourage newcomers, especially those from monolingual societies. Vernaculars, Pidgins, Creoles And Lingua Francas Vernaculars, Pidgins, Creoles And Lingua Francas in Worldview Perspective Orville Jenkins Articles
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