Historical Foundations

Latin was one of the main languages that were used within literature and by the educated person. Many of the words used in different languages such as Italian, Spanish, French, have roots that are in Latin. Even the English language uses words that have Latin roots as well. This language was one that was adapted by many cultures as it was more of a universal language and easier for others to understand. The vernacular language refers to the language of the people or the native language that is used in a culture. Most languages have been adapted from the vernacular language of Latin. I wanted to take a look at Italy and their language to determine how it changed from Latin and how it spread based on different influences as well. The Italian language happens to be the closet language to Latin now (Latin Language, 2012). The Latin language came from Northern Europe and expanded along side of the growth of the Roman State. Latin was also influenced by other languages that were spoken and continued to develop over time. There were many differences when it came to the use of Latin in writing and how it was used when speaking due to the education or lack of education of individuals. Another influence of the Latin language was religion. The Greek and Latin fathers of the Church had come together to create the definition of the Christian doctrine (Sayre, 2012). The ways of communication through the Western Church were all dependant on the Latin language. The Greek books of the New Testemant and the Hebrew Bible were both translated into Latin which then also became the bible of the Roman Catholic Church. The language spread to others through their religion as they came together to create a language of common understanding. When the Roman Empire gained more control and began to take over, the Latin language began to take more control as well. Once the empire started to fall, the language started to expand due to the changes. Before, people could only communicate with those who had their same education, but as the language expanded, people were able to communicate with others regardless of educational backgrounds. As the vernacular began to expand due to the fall of the Roman Empire, many people started to go back to their native languages. People were able to understand the vernacular language much better than the Latin and it did not require such education as Latin did to understand. More women began to write and use their vernacular language to create literature such as poems to express themselves. This was a big step for women and the language during the Medieval times (Medieval Writing, 2005). This was a major impact in their world as they knew it, as they were able to communicate without having to focus on whether others will understand them or whether they had the proper education and ability to get the education needed. Even the people of England had decided to go back to their language of Old English rather than Latin. Even though many of the people and countries had used their vernacular language, others did keep the Latin language alive. Many of the people of the Church would keep the language of Latin and continued to use it in their Bibles (Latin Language, 2012). They did not want to rewrite the original language that they had come together to create these important religious documents. Scholars and scientists were also among those who still used the Latin language in their research and education over the years. The great thing about the Latin language and the vernaculars is that it has made language the way it is today. Many of the words that we use on a daily basis and even in other countries such as Italy, Spain, and Greece, all have to do with the Latin language. The root of many of the words are Latin. It is incredible how something that started out so small had become so large in the fact that it is still a large part of our language, education, and literacy in today’s day and age.

References
Latin Language (2012). Retrieved November 2012 from: http://www.unrv.com/culture/latin-language.php Medieval Writing. (2005). Retrieved November 2012 from: http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/whyread/vernac2.htm Sayre.(2012). Discovering the Humanities. 2nd Edition. Pearson