Translated from the original written in the catalan
language into English
THE VALUE OF VERNACULAR LANGUAGES
Languages of the spirit. Living languages. Languages of freedom.
Vernacular languages always spring up anew and survive the imposition of
imperial and colonialist languages forced upon them by adulterating and
alienating powers that seek to destroy them.
Mural of the Monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat and Black Virgin (Catalonia)
1965 SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
—The Second Vatican Council and the revaluation of vernacular languages
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) was a fundamental event in the
history of the Catholic Church, convened by Pope John XXIII and continued by
Paul VI with the objective of updating the Church for the contemporary world (aggiornamento).
It brought together more than 2,000 bishops from around the world and
approved 16 documents renewing liturgy, theology, and the relationship with
modern society. The key aspect regarding vernacularism is found in the
Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium (December 4, 1963) on the liturgy:
the Council declared that «the use of the Latin language is to be preserved»,
but «that the use of the mother tongue in the mass of the people is frequently
of great advantage to the people and may be permitted more widely» (SC 36).
This meant the end of the liturgical monopoly of Latin and the elevation of the
natural or proper languages of each place as legitimate instruments of worship.
Catalan, Basque, and Galician were heard in churches once again after decades
of repression, especially in contexts such as Francoism.
1965 VERNACULARISM: A DANGER TO THE UNITY OF SPAIN
—Franco’s regime was deeply anti-vernacular because it attacked the languages and cultures rooted in its
territories, imposing a linguistic and cultural uniformity based on Castilian
as the sole official language of the State. This behavior responded to a
centralist and Spanish nationalist vision that denied the historical plurality
of the peninsula.
·
Letter from
Spanish bishops to Paul VI (1964):
«This doctrine [concerning religious freedom and
liturgical reform] constitutes an inadmissible break with tradition. We beg
that it be withdrawn from the conciliar deliberation.»
·
Report by
Military Bishop Alonso Muñoyerro:
«Spain has enjoyed Catholic unity since the 7th
century, and we cannot permit this reform, which favors the use of dialects, to
weaken our national essence.»
(Source: Episcopal report preserved in the Vatican
Secret Archive, cited by historians of the Spanish Episcopal Conference)
—The Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (DRAE) included a second definition to adulterate the
meaning of the word and make it objectionable.
It was added: «Said of a slave: Born in the master’s house.»
Adulterating the meaning of words was intended to provoke rejection of the
term. Adulterating the meaning of words is a weapon of the vernacular
counter-reformation that had been reopened with the Second Vatican Council. Did
they succeed?
THE TRAP OF ADULTERATING THE DEFINITION OF WORDS
1974 Book by Joan Coromines
In Joan Coromines’ book Lleures i converses d'un filòleg
(Leisures and Conversations of a Philologist), on pages 53 and 54 under the
title ¿VERNÁCULO? (VERNACULAR?), the topic is addressed with comments on
the use given to the word vernacular, and page 54 includes comments that
justify the rejection of the term.
«It became fashionable very quickly, surely because it was more
comfortable, less clear, and therefore less compromising than the Catalan
language; it was used a lot and popularized by none other than Rovira i
Virgili, and in the slight deviation of meaning that he inflicted upon it, the
desire to escape the intolerable pressures to which we were then subject
perhaps played a greater role than the scarce classical culture of this great
journalist.»
«The purely Latin word vernaculus has a frankly pejorative,
disparaging nuance, which modern languages borrowed when artificially taking it
from Latin. By the grace or misfortune of Rovira i Virgili...»
In Catalonia, Rovira i Virgili and other authors of Noucentisme
popularized the word «vernacle» (vernacular) as an expression of the proper and
genuine language of Catalonia.
In my opinion, there is an important reason to value vernacular
languages. It is a reason related to the essential teaching of Christianity,
the one celebrated at Pentecost and which speaks to us of the coming of the
Holy Spirit. According to this Christian teaching celebrated at Pentecost, the
Holy Spirit infuses—like a kind of baptism—the gift of tongues to people. The
Holy Spirit is represented by a dove, and this dove can be seen as an essential
benchmark in Christian churches.
Examples:
Catalan Romanesque art. Pentecost. 12th-century mural painting by the Master
of Osomort. Apse of the church of Sant Joan de Bellcaire de l’Empordà
(Catalonia). Art
Museum of Girona.
Vernaclist
Flag[1]
Within this frame of reference, vernacular nations are more powerful
than artificial states.
The vernacular flag incorporates the Catalan flag within this
international framework formed by languages, cultures, and nations that share a
naturalistic identification, values, an ideal, a spirituality, and a conception
of reality.
Vernaclist
Flag and Catalan Flag
Within this vernaclistic frame of reference, Romanesque art and its
symbolism of the dove associated with the gift of tongues celebrated at
Pentecost have an essential function. A function of regeneration, of return to
origins without alienating adulterations.
In this line of thought, one must bear in mind the prediction written by
Alexandre Deulofeu in one of his books on The Mathematics of History entitled
Catalunya mare de la cultura europea (Catalonia, Mother of European
Culture), to the effect that «from Catalonia this thought would spread
throughout the world to constitute the Universal Confederation of Vernacular
Nations».
Jordi Salat Orteu
Book in Amazon catalan edition
https://vernaclistes.blogspot.com/
[1] Created by Jordi Salat Orteu and symbolically explained in the book
“Vernaclística”.
