Expertlatin
- Why is Vulgar Latin called vulgar?
- What languages are from Vulgar Latin?
- What is the history of Vulgar Latin?
- What is vulgar vs Classical Latin?
Why is Vulgar Latin called vulgar?
The name "vulgar" simply means "common"; it is derived from the Latin word vulgaris, meaning "common", or "of the people". "Vulgar Latin" to Latinists has a variety of meanings. It means variation within Latin (socially, geographically, and chronologically) that differs from the perceived Classical literary standard.
What languages are from Vulgar Latin?
Vulgar Latin is also the early vernacular language from which the Romance languages (like Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian) descended, and even in those early times it resembles them somewhat more than Classical Latin does.
What is the history of Vulgar Latin?
The modern usage of the term Vulgar Latin dates to the Renaissance, when Italian thinkers began to theorize that their own language originated in a sort of "corrupted" Latin that they assumed formed an entity distinct from the literary Classical variety, though opinions differed greatly on the nature of this "vulgar" ...
What is vulgar vs Classical Latin?
The answer usually given is that Vulgar Latin was the language of the people, while Classical Latin, coming down to us as a literary language, was closer to how the elite spoke. This, however, is a very simplified—and maybe not altogether accurate—picture of how things were.
