Spread Of Vernacular Languages

As populations grow and societies become more diverse, languages also keep on evolving. Reformation
period Christians played a key role in spreading the use of vernacular languages through translating the
Bible from Latin into the then vernacular languages like Dutch, French, Spanish, German, and English
among other languages. However, it is important to note that most, if not all, of these languages, are
today used as a lingua franca in most parts of the world due to colonization, militarization, and
globalization. Galileo Galilei was one of the earliest documented users of vernacular languages when, in
the 1600s, he wrote in Italian though Latin was the official language. Isaac Newton, in 1704, wrote
Opticks in English, then considered as a vernacular. As people continued to interact in commerce,
religion and even conquest, vernacular languages in Europe and other parts of the world spread to
different regions and became a Lingua franca while maintaining their ‘vernacular status’ in their home
communities.