The Vulgar Tongue

The Vulgar Tongue: Medieval and Postmedieval Vernacularity, Volume 1, examines the complex history of European vernacularity and its impact on Western culture. This history book explores how the vernacular, once viewed as the language of slaves, continues to shape identity, affiliation, and cultural struggle. Through a series of detailed studies, Fiona Somerset analyzes language situations spanning from twelfth-century England and France to twentieth-century India and North America.

This academic work focuses on categories such as languages and colloquial language to show how vernacular politics intersect with gender, class, and religion. The text investigates diverse contexts, including the orthography of Early Middle English and the construction of standard Serbian and Romanian. By analyzing the relationship between Latin and other regional tongues, The Vulgar Tongue provides a comprehensive look at the fluid nature of linguistic identity across Europe and beyond.