Editing Vernacular (section)

==Overview==
Like any native language variety, a vernacular has an internally coherent system of [[grammar]]. It may be associated with a particular set of [[vocabulary]], and spoken using a variety of [[Accent (dialect)|accent]]s, [[style (sociolinguistics)|styles]], and [[register (sociolinguistics)|registers]].<ref name=Trudgill>{{cite book |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Trudgill |year=1999 |chapter-url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/SEtrudgill.htm |chapter=Standard English: what it isn't |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321091659/http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/SEtrudgill.htm |archive-date=21 March 2009 |editor-first=T. |editor-last=Bex |editor2-first=R.J. |editor2-last=Watts |title=Standard English: The Widening Debate |pages=117–128 |location=London |publisher=[[Routledge]]}}</ref> As American linguist [[John McWhorter]] describes about a number of dialects spoken in the [[American South]] in earlier U.S. history, including older [[African-American Vernacular English]], "the often [[Older Southern American English|nonstandard speech of Southern white planters]], nonstandard [[British English|British dialects]] of indentured servants, and [[Jamaican Patois|West Indian patois]], [...] were ''non''standard but not ''sub''standard."<ref>{{harvp|McWhorter|2001|p=152}}</ref> In other words, the adjective "nonstandard" should not be taken to mean that these various dialects were intrinsically incorrect, less logical, or otherwise inferior, only that they were not the socially perceived norm or mainstream considered prestigious or appropriate for public speech; however, nonstandard dialects are indeed often stigmatized as such, due to socially-induced [[wikt:post hoc|post-hoc]] rationalization.<ref>{{harvp|Mesthrie|1994|p=182}}</ref> Again, however, linguistics regards all varieties of a language as coherent, complex, and complete systems&mdash;even nonstandard varieties.

A [[dialect]] or language [[Variety (linguistics)|variety]] that is a vernacular may not have historically benefited from the institutional support or sanction that a standard dialect has. According to another definition, a vernacular is a language that has not developed a [[standard language|standard variety]], undergone [[codification (linguistics)|codification]], or established a literary tradition.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Speech, Language, Learning, and the African American Child|url=https://archive.org/details/speechlanguagele0000vank|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/speechlanguagele0000vank/page/50 50]|publisher=Allyn and Bacon|date=1998|isbn=9780205152681|language=en|first1=Jean E. |last1=Van Keulen|first2=Gloria Toliver|last2=Weddington|first3=Charles E.|last3=DeBose}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Suhardi|Sembiring|2007|p=61–62}}</ref>
[[File:ScanianLaw B74.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|The oldest known vernacular manuscript in [[Scanian dialect|Scanian]] (Danish, c. 1250). It deals with Scanian and Scanian [[Ecclesiastical Law]].]]
[[File:PalazzoTrinci012.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|An [[allegory]] of rhetoric and arithmetic, [[Trinci Palace]], Foligno, Italy, by [[Gentile da Fabriano]], who lived in the era of Italian language standardization]]

Vernacular may vary from overtly [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestigious speech varieties]] in different ways, in that the vernacular can be a distinct [[register (sociolinguistics)|stylistic register]], a regional [[dialect]], a [[sociolect]], or an independent language. Vernacular is a term for a type of [[Variety (linguistics)|speech variety]], generally used to refer to a local language or dialect, as distinct from what is seen as a standard language. The vernacular is contrasted with [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|higher-prestige]] forms of language, such as [[National language|national]], [[Literary language|literary]], [[liturgical language|liturgical]] or [[scientific terminology|scientific]] idiom, or a ''[[lingua franca]]'', used to facilitate communication across a large area. However, vernaculars usually carry [[covert prestige]] among their native speakers, in showcasing group identity or sub-culture affiliation.

As a border case, a nonstandard dialect may even have its own written form, though it could then be assumed that the [[orthography]] is unstable, inconsistent, or unsanctioned by powerful institutions, like that of government or education. The most [[Salience (language)|salient]] instance of nonstandard dialects in writing would likely be nonstandard phonemic spelling of reported speech in [[literature]] or poetry (e.g., the publications of Jamaican poet [[Linton Kwesi Johnson]]) where it is sometimes described as ''[[eye dialect]].''

Nonstandard dialects have been used in classic literature throughout history. One famous example of this is Mark Twain, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is Nonstandard English? |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-nonstandard-english-1691438 |access-date=2022-05-05 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref> This classic piece of literature, commonly taught in schools in the U.S., includes dialogue from various characters in their own native vernaculars (including representations of [[Older Southern American English]] and [[African-American English]]), which are not written in standard English.

In the case of the [[English language]], while it has become common thought to assume that nonstandard varieties should not be taught, there has been evidence to prove that teaching nonstandard dialects in the classroom can encourage some children to learn English.