A lingua franca (originally Italian for "Frankish language"—see etymology below) is a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue A first language is the language a human being learns from birth. The term is also used for the language that the speaker speaks best. In either case, a person's first language is a basis for sociolinguistic identity, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both persons' mother tongues.^[1]

This can also be referred to as working language or bridge language.

Characteristics

Lingua franca is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic history or structure of the language:^[2] though pidgins A pidgin language is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the country in which they reside (but where there is no common language and creoles A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that has originated from a pidgin language that has been nativized . The vocabulary of a creole language consists of cognates from the parent languages, though there are often clear phonetic and semantic shifts. On the other hand, the grammar often has original features but may differ often function as lingua francas, many lingua francas are neither pidgins nor creoles. Synonyms for lingua franca are "vehicular language" and "bridge language". Whereas a vernacular A vernacular, mother tongue or mother language, and less frequently one sense of idiom and dialect, is the native language of a population located in a country or in a region defined on some other basis, such as a locality. For example, Navajo is a local language in the southwest of the United States, and English is the state language of a number language is used as a native language in a single speaker community, a vehicular language goes beyond the boundaries of its original community, and is used as a second language for communication between communities. For example, Spanish is a vernacular in Spain, but is used as a vehicular language (that is, a lingua franca) in the Philippines.

International auxiliary languages An international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language. An auxiliary language is primarily a second language such as Esperanto Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887. The word esperanto means "one who hopes" in the language itself. The language's original name was " are generally intended by their designers to function as linguas franca, but they have historically had a relatively low level of adoption and use and therefore are not linguas franca.

Etymology

The original lingua franca referred to a mixed language composed mostly (80%) of Italian with a broad vocabulary drawn from Turkish, French, Spanish, Greek and Arabic. It was in use throughout the eastern Mediterranean as the language of commerce and diplomacy in and around the Renaissance era. At that time, Italian speakers dominated seaborne commerce in the port cities of the Ottoman empire The Ottoman Empire was a regime that lasted from 1299 to 1923. Franca was the Italian word for Frankish The Franks were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the third century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a kingdom on Roman-held soil that was acknowledged by the. Its usage in the term lingua franca originated from its meaning in Arabic, dating from before the Crusades The Crusades were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns waged by much of Latin[ambiguous] Christian Europe, particularly the Franks of France and the Holy Roman Empire. The specific crusades to restore Christian control of the Holy Land were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291. Other campaigns in Spain, whereby all Europeans were called "Franks" or Faranji in Arabic^{[citation needed]}. Lingua franca is first recorded in English in 1678.^[3]

Europe

English

English English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into South-East Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of is the current lingua franca of international business, science, technology and aviation. It has replaced French French is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in as the lingua franca of diplomacy since World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·. The rise of English in diplomacy began in 1919, in the aftermath of World War I World War I was a military conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918 and involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 15 million people were, when the Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I were dealt with in separate treaties was written in English as well as in French, the dominant language used in diplomacy until that time. The widespread use of English was further advanced by the prominent international role played by English-speaking nations (i.e., the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language and the Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states. All but two of these countries were formerly part of the British Empire) in the aftermath of World War II, particularly in the establishment and organization of the United Nations The United Nations Organization or simply United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of. English is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (the other five being French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish). The seating and roll-call order in sessions of the United Nations and its subsidiary or affiliated organizations is determined by English alphabetical order (which is the same as French alphabetical order, since both alphabets are identically ordered versions of the Latin alphabet, but the names of countries are sometimes different between English and French, therefore alphabetic order with the English name is used).

When the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land became a colonial power, English served as the lingua franca of the colonies of the British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations, who had multiple indigenous languages, opted to continue using English as the lingua franca to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others. The British Empire established the use of English in regions around the world such as North America North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast, India India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the, Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of the world's human population, Australia For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by the British and New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori language name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud. The Realm of New Zealand also that by the late nineteenth century its reach was truly global,^[4] and in the latter half of the 20th century, widespread international use of English was much reinforced by the global economic, financial, scientific, military, and cultural preeminence of the English-speaking countries and especially the US. Today all of the world's major scientific journals In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past . Most journals are highly specialized, although some of the oldest are published in English, which is definitive evidence that English is the lingua franca of science and technology. English is also the lingua franca of international Air Traffic Control Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other support for pilots when able. In some countries, ATC communications.

French

French French is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in was the language of diplomacy Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics, culture, environment and human rights in Europe from the 17th century, and as a result is still a working language of international institutions List of international organisations which have French as an official, administrative or working language and is seen on documents ranging from passports to airmail letters. For many years, until the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark joined in 1973, French and German were the only official working languages of the European Economic Community The European Economic Community (also referred to as simply the European Community, or the Common Market in the English-speaking world) was an international organization that existed between 1957 and 1993 which was created to bring about economic integration (including a single market) between Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the. French was also the lingua franca of European literature Literature,, is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means acquaintance with letters (as in the Arts and Letters"). In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and nonfiction in the 18th century.

French was also the language used among the educated in many cosmopolitan cities across the Middle East and North Africa. This is still true in the former French colonies of the Maghreb The Maghreb , also rendered Maghrib, refers to the five countries constituting North Africa (not to be confused with Northern Africa). It is an Arabic word, literally meaning "place of sunset" or "the west" (from an Arabian perspective). The term is generally now used, mainly by Arabs, to refer collectively to the African, where French is particularly important in the economic capitals like Algiers Algiers /ælˈdʒɪərz/ , is the capital and largest city of Algeria and the second largest of the Maghreb after Casablanca. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. A recent UN estimate of the urban agglomeration (metropolitan area) puts the population at 3,35, Casablanca Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region and Tunis Tunis is the capital of Tunisia and also the Tunis Governorate, with a population of 1,200,000 in 2008 and over 3,980,500 in the greater Tunis area. It is Tunisia's largest city. Until the outbreak of the civil war The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 130,000 to 250,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people (one fourth of the population) were wounded, half of whom were left with lifetime disabilities in Lebanon, French was the language that the Christian members of the upper class of Lebanese society used. Moreover, French is still a lingua franca in most Western West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 15 countries & an area of approximately 5 million square km: and Central African Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda countries (where it often enjoys official status), a remnant of the colonial rule of France and Belgium. These African countries, together with several other countries throughout the world, are members of the Francophonie Francophonie is an international organization of polities and governments with French as the mother or customary language, where in a significant proportion of people are francophones or where there is a notable affiliation with the French language or culture. French is the sole official language of the Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, and hence the worldwide postal system. Each member country agrees to the same set of terms for conducting international postal duties. The Universal Postal Union's headquarters are located in Berne, Switzerland, and English was only added as a working language in 1994.^[5]. Also, French is the main language of Quebec Quebec is the second most populous province, after Ontario. Most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. English-speaking communities and English-language institutions are concentrated in the west of the island of Montreal but are also significantly present in the Outaouais, the, an official language of Government of Canada The government of Canada is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of managerial institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council. In both senses, the construct was established at Confederation, through the Constitution Act, 1867, as a, and second language of Luxembourg Luxembourg (pronounced /ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-berg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. Luxembourg has a population of over half a, and Belgium Belgium (pronounced /ˈbɛldʒəm/ , BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a, and is spoken by the 29% of the population of the Netherlands The Netherlands (pronounced /ˈnɛðɚləndz/ ; Dutch: Nederland, pronounced [ˈneːdərlɑnt] ( listen)) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in North-West Europe. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany,20% of Ireland Ireland (pronounced [ˈaɾlənd],; Irish: Éire, pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen); Ulster Scots: Airlann) is the third largest island in Europe and the twentieth largest island in the world. It lies to the northwest of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland is Great Britain, separated from, of Italy Italy (pronounced /ˈɪtəli/ ; Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a country located partly on the European Continent and partly on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine, 23% of United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land, 24% of Portugal Portugal /ˈpɔɹtʃʉɡəl/ (Portuguese: Portugal, Mirandese: Pertual), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa; Mirandese: República Pertuesa), is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and,and 24% of Romania Romania (pronounced /roʊˈmeɪniə/ roe-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Rumania, Roumania; Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, north of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta.

German

German served as a lingua franca in large portions of Europe for centuries, mainly the Holy Roman Empire. From about 1200 to 1600, Middle Low German was the language of the Hanseatic League which was present in most Northern European seaports, even London.^{[citation needed]}

As one of the official languages of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, German remained an important second language in much of Central and Eastern Europe long after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I. Today, it is still the most common second language in some of the countries in the region (e.g. in Slovenia (45% of the pop.), Croatia (33%), the Czech Republic (31%) and Slovakia (28%)). In others, it is also known by significant numbers of the population (in Poland by 18%, in Hungary by 16%).

During the construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in Australia, German was the lingua franca for workers from central and east Europe.

German was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries a prerequisite language in the scientific community. Despite the anti-German sentiment after World War II it remains a widespread language among members of the scientific community.

Within Europe, it is also (along with French) the most spoken foreign language of choice. There, it is most widely known in the Netherlands, in Denmark and in Sweden. In the European Union, German native-speakers (in Austria, parts of Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg) form the most numerous language group with just under 100 million members.

After the popularization of the works of Immanuel Kant, German also became the primary language of the field of ⎡citation needed⎤ philosophy, which was previously Latin and French.

Greek and Latin

During the time of the Hellenistic civilization and Roman Empire, the lingua francas were Koine Greek and Latin. During the Middle Ages, the lingua franca was Greek in the parts of Europe, Middle East and Northern Africa where the Byzantine Empire held hegemony, and Latin was primarily used in the rest of Europe. Latin, for a significant portion of the expansion of the Roman Catholic Church, was used as the basis of the Church. During the Second Vatican Council, Catholic liturgy changed to local languages, although Latin remains the official language of the Vatican. Latin was used as the language of scholars in Europe until the early 19th century in most subjects. For instance, Christopher Simpson's "Chelys or The Division viol" on how to improvise on the viol (viola da gamba) was published in 1665 in a multilingual edition in Latin and English, to make the material accessible for the wider European music community. Another example is the Norwegian (and Danish, since Norway was then in union with Denmark) writer Ludvig Holberg, who published his book "Nicolai Klimii iter subterraneum" in 1741 about an ideal society "Potu" ("Utop" backwards) with equality between the genders and an egalitarian structure, in Latin in Germany to avoid Danish censorship and to reach a greater audience. In subjects like medicine and theology Latin has been a subject of study until the present day in most European universities, despite declining use in recent years.

Italian

Main article: Mediterranean Lingua Franca

Italian dialects were spoken in medieval times as a lingua franca in the European commercial empires of Italian cities (Genoa, Venice, Florence, Milan, Pisa, Siena, Ragusa) and in trading ports located throughout the eastern Mediterranean rim.^[6]

During the Renaissance, Italian was also spoken as language of culture in the main royal courts of Europe and among intellectuals. This lasted from the 1300s to the end of the 16th century, when French language substituted Italian as lingua franca in "educated" Europe.

The Italian language is still used as a lingua franca in some environments. For example, in the Catholic ecclesiastic hierarchy, Italian is known by a large part of members and is used in substitution of Latin in some official documents as well. The presence of Italian as the second official language in Vatican City indicates its use not only in the seat in Rome, but also anywhere in the world where an episcopal seat is present.

In the 1950s and 1960s Italian was the lingua franca of some colonies of the former Italian Empire, like Eritrea and Italian Somalia.^[7]

Indeed in music Italian is the lingua franca of opera along with French. Most operas were written and performed in Italian until the early 20th century (however since the German composer Gluck, there have always been operas in native languages as well), so most singers and musicians active in opera performance understand Italian fully or partially. Expressions found in musical notation as alphabetized text (as opposed to musical text in musical notation), for instance tempo indications, instruction on the use of mutes, directions on the use of the bow on string instruments, dynamic effects, use of harmonics &c, have been written in Italian in most of Europe since the early 19th century as a standard (after the French Revolution ruined the French court as a model for European musical life) and most contemporary musicians and singers use musical expression in Italian as a lingua franca in rehearsals with lingually mixed ensembles, or even as part of communication in other languages, since these Italian expressions are the de facto standard expressions in most languages and their native expressions are often only used with amateurs or in pedagogical contexts.

Polish

Polish was a lingua franca in areas of Eastern Europe, especially regions that belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Polish was for several centuries the main language spoken by the ruling classes in Lithuania and Ukraine, and the modern state of Belarus^[8]. After the Partitions of Poland and the incorporation of most of the Polish areas into the Russian Empire as Congress Poland, the Russian language almost completely supplanted Polish.

Portuguese

Portuguese served as lingua franca in Africa, South America and Asia in the 15th and 16th centuries. When the Portuguese started exploring the seas of Africa, America, Asia and Oceania, they tried to communicate with the natives by mixing a Portuguese-influenced version of Lingua Franca with the local languages. When English or French ships came to compete with the Portuguese, the crew tried to learn this "broken Portuguese". Through a process of change the Lingua Franca and Portuguese lexicon was replaced with the languages of the people in contact.

Portuguese remains an important lingua franca in Africa (PALOP), East Timor, Goa, and to a certain extent in Macau where is recognized as an official language alongside Chinese though in practice not commonly spoken.

Russian

Russian is in use and widely understood in Northern and Central Asia, areas formerly part of the Soviet Union or bloc, and may be understood by older people in Central and Eastern Europe, formerly part of the Warsaw Pact. It remains the lingua franca in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Recent waves of migrants from the former Soviet Union have made Russian one of the most spoken languages in Israel and Germany. Russian is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.^[9]

Serbian

Serbian is lingua franca in all former Yugoslav republics, including Slovenia and Macedonia.

Spanish

With the growth of the Spanish Empire, Spanish became established in the Americas, as well as parts of Africa and Asia. Spanish is used as lingua franca throughout the former Spanish Colonial Empire, except territory in present day U.S., but particularly in Mexico, Central America, and South America.

Yiddish

Yiddish originated in the Ashkenazi culture that developed from about the 10th century in the Rhineland and then spread to central and eastern Europe and eventually to other continents. For a significant portion of its history, Yiddish was the primary spoken language of the Ashkenazi Jews. Eastern Yiddish, three dialects of which are still spoken today, includes a significant but varying percentage of words from Slavic, Romanian and other local languages.

On the eve of World War II, there were 11 to 13 million Yiddish speakers, for many of whom Yiddish was not the primary language. The Holocaust, however, led to a dramatic, sudden decline in the use of Yiddish, as the extensive Jewish communities, both secular and religious, that used Yiddish in their day-to-day life were largely destroyed. Although millions of Yiddish speakers survived the war, further assimilation in countries such as the United States and the Soviet Union, along with the strictly Hebrew monolingual stance of the Zionist movement, led to a decline in the use of Yiddish. However, the number of speakers within the widely dispersed Orthodox (mainly Hasidic) communities is now increasing. It is a home language in most Hasidic communities, where it is the first language learned in childhood, used in schools, and in many social settings.

In the United States, as well as South America, the Yiddish language bonded Jews from many countries. Most of the Jewish immigrants to the New York metropolitan area during the years of Ellis Island considered Yiddish their native language. Later, Yiddish was no longer the primary language for the majority of the remaining speakers and often served as lingua franca for the Jewish immigrants who did not know each other's primary language, particularly following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Yiddish was also the language in which second generation immigrants often continued to communicate with their relatives who remained in Europe or moved to Israel, with English, Spanish or Portuguese being primary language of the first and Russian, Romanian, or Hebrew that of the second.

Asia

Akkadian

Further information: Akkadian language

In the middle East, from around 2500BC to 1500BC, forms of Akkadian were the universally recognised language. It was used throughout the Akkadian empire as well as an international diplomatic language, for example between Egypt and Babylon, well after the fall of the Akkadian empire itself and even while Aramaic was more common in Babylon.

Arabic

Further information: Arabic language An example of a text written in Arabic calligraphy.

Arabic, the native language of the Arabs, who originally came from the Arabian Peninsula, became the "lingua franca" of the Islamic Empire (Arab Empire) (from AD 733 - AD 1492), which at a certain point spread from the borders of China and Northern India through Central Asia, Persia, Asia Minor, Middle East, North Africa all the way to Spain and Portugal in the west.

Arabic was also used by people neighbouring the Islamic Empire. During the Islamic Golden Age, Arabic was the language of science and diplomacy (around AD 1200), when more books were written in Arabic than in any other language in the world at that time period.^{[citation needed]} It influenced many sub-Saharan African languages, with stronger influences on east African languages, such as Swahili and loaned many words to Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Spanish and Portuguese, countries it ruled for 700 years (see Al-Andalus). It also had some influence over the English language.

Arabic script was adopted by many other languages such as Urdu, Persian, Swahili (changed to Latin in the late 19th century) and Turkish which switched to Latin script in 1928. Arabic became the lingua franca of these regions not simply because of commerce or diplomacy, but also on religious grounds since Arabic is the language of the Qur’an, Islam's holy book and these populations became heavily Muslim. Arabic remains as the lingua franca for 22 countries (24 if one was to include the Palestinian territories and Western Sahara), in the Middle East and North Africa in addition to Chad. Despite a few language script conversions from Arabic to Latin as just described, Arabic is the second most widely used alphabetic system in the world after Latin.^[10] Arabic script is/has been used in languages including Bosnian, Hausa, Kashmiri, Kazak, Kurdish, Kyrghyz, Malay, Morisco, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi, Sindhi, Tatar, Turkish, Urdu, Uyghur.^[11]

According to Encarta, which classified Chinese as a single language, Arabic is perceived to be the second largest language among first-time speakers.^[12] Used by more than a billion Muslims around the world,^[11] it is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.^[9]

Aramaic

Aramaic was the native language of the Aramaeans and became the lingua franca of the Assyrian Empire and the western provinces of the Persian Empire, and was adopted by conquered races such as the Hebrews. A dialect of Old Aramaic developed into the literary language Syriac. The Syriacs, such as the Syriac-Aramaean, Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, continued the use of Aramaic which ultimately evolved into the Neo-Aramaic dialects of the Middle East.

Azeri

Azeri served as a lingua franca in Transcaucasia (except the Black Sea coast and most of Georgia), Southern Daghestan^[13][14][15], Turkish Armenia^{[citation needed]}, and Iranian Azerbaijan from the 16th century to the early 20th century.^[16][17]

Bengali

Bengali, or Bangla, is commonly spoken in Bangladesh and India (especially in the states of West Bengal and Tripura). It is the official language and lingua franca of Bangladesh. In India, Bengali is the official language of West Bengal state; an official language of Tripura (along with Khokborok) and Assam (along with Assamese) states. The language is also one of several official languages of the Republic of India, being the second most spoken language (as mother tongue) among Indians, after Hindi.

Chinese

A letter dated 1266 from Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire to the Emperor of Japan was written in Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese previously served as both a written lingua franca and diplomatic language in Far East Asia, used by mainland China, Mongolia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, the Ryūkyū Kingdom, and Vietnam in diplomatic communications. In the early 20th century, the writing of Classical Chinese was replaced by modern written Standard Chinese, which now serves as a written lingua franca within China between speakers of different spoken variants of Chinese to this day. Cantonese language was historically the spoken lingua franca among most overseas Chinese, but recently has begun to be supplanted by Standard Mandarin due to the explosive growth of the economy of China resulting from economic reform. In Mainland China and Taiwan, Standard Mandarin is the spoken lingua franca between speakers of different and mutually unintelligible Chinese spoken languages, and between the Han Chinese and other ethnic groups in China; however the local spoken lingua franca still is Standard Cantonese in Guangdong province, Hong Kong, Macau. Hokkien is the spoken lingua franca among the ethnic Chinese populations residing in Singapore and some parts of Malaysia, though this too is being supplanted by the use of Standard Mandarin.

Hebrew

Throughout the centuries of Jewish exile, Hebrew has served the Jewish people as a lingua franca; allowing Jews from different areas of the world to communicate effectively with one another. This was particularly valuable for cross-culture mercantile trading that became one of the default occupations held by Jews in exilic times. Without the need for translators, documents could easily be written up to convey significant legal trade information. Among early Zionists, a newly reconstructed form of Hebrew served as a common language between Jews from nations as diverse as Poland and Yemen. In modern Israel, Hebrew is the commonly accepted language of administration and trade, even among Israeli-Arabs whose mother-tongue remains Arabic.

Hindi-Urdu

Further information: Hindustani language

Hindustani, or Hindi-Urdu, is commonly spoken in India and Pakistan. It encompasses two standardized registers in the form of the official languages of Hindi and Urdu, as well as several nonstandard dialects. Hindi is one of the official languages of India, and Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. Urdu is also an official language in India. However, whilst the words and much of the speaking may sound similar, small differences are present, and Urdu is written in Urdu script—a derivative of Persian-Arabic script, while Hindi is written in the Devanagari script.

Malay-Indonesian

In the 15th century, during the Malacca Sultanate, Malay was used as a lingua franca in the Malay archipelago, by the locals as much as by the traders and artisans that stopped at Malacca via the Straits of Malacca.

Nowadays, Malay is used mostly in Malaysia (officially called Bahasa Malaysia) and Brunei, and to a lesser extent in Singapore and various parts of Sumatra. One of Singapore's four official languages and now Singapore's national language due to historical reasons, the Malay language or 'Bahasa Melayu' was the lingua franca for Malays in Singapore prior to the introduction of English as a working and instructional language, and remains so for the elder generation.

However, Indonesian, a language based on traditional Malay, but mostly influenced by Dutch and Portuguese instead of English, serves as a lingua franca throughout Indonesia and East Timor (where it is considered a working language), areas that are home to over 700 indigenous languages.

Nepali

Nepali is the lingua-franca of the many ethnic, religious and cultural communities of Nepal, and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar (Burma). It is one of 23 official languages of India incorporated in 8th annex of the Indian Constitution. It has official language status in the formerly independent state of Sikkim and in West Bengal's Darjeeling district. Similarly, it is widely spoken in the state of Uttaranchal, as well as in the state of Assam. While Nepali is closely related to the Hindi-Urdu complex and is mutually intelligible to a degree, it has more Sanskritic derivations and fewer Persian or English loan words. Nepali is commonly written in the Devanagari script, as are Hindi and Sanskrit.

Persian

Further information: Persian language

Persian became the second lingua franca of the Islamic world, in particular of the eastern regions.^[18] Besides serving as the state and administrative language in many Islamic dynasties, some of which included Samanids, Ghurids, Ghaznavids, Ilkhanids, Seljuqids, Moguls and early Ottomans, Persian cultural and political forms, and often the Persian language, were used by the cultural elites from the Balkans to India.^[19] For example, Persian was the only oriental language known and used by Marco Polo at the Court of Kubla Khan and in his journeys through China.^[20] Arnold Joseph Toynbee's assessment of the role of the Persian language is worth quoting in more detail:

In the Iranic world, before it began to succumb to the process of Westernization, the New Persian language, which had been fashioned into literary form in mighty works of art ... gained a currency as a lingua franca; and at its widest, about the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries of the Christian Era, its range in this role extended, without a break, across the face of South-Eastern Europe and South-Western Asia.^[21]

Persian remains the lingua franca in its native homelands of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan and was the lingua franca of India before the British conquest. It is still understood by many intellectuals of India, Pakistan and even Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Sanskrit

Further information: Sanskrit

Sanskrit was widely used across South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia at various times in ancient and medieval history; it has religious significance for all those religious traditions that arose from the Vedic religion.

Tamil

Tamil is the lingua franca not just in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, but also a much larger swathe of South India, with many second language speakers in the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, and the territory of Puducherry.

Tamil is one of the official languages of India, as well as one of the official languages of Sri Lanka and Singapore. There are significant numbers of Tamil speakers in Malaysia, South Africa, Burma, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada (GTA). Tamil is a classical language, with a long and rich history.

Telugu

Telugu is the lingua franca in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam district of Pondicherry as well as in the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, some parts of Jharkhand and the Kharagpur region of West Bengal in India. In Karnataka, only in the districts bordering Andhra Pradesh Telugu can be seen in use.

It is also spoken by migrant communities in Australia, New Zealand, Bahrain, Canada, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Ireland, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. As a language native to the Indian subcontinent, Telugu has the third largest number of speakers after Hindi and Bengali.

Africa

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is spoken as a first language by many millions of people in South Africa, both white and non-white, and as a second language by millions more. During apartheid, the government aimed to create it as the 'lingua franca' in South Africa and South African controlled South-West Africa (modern day Namibia). However, since the end of apartheid, in a nation with 11 official languages, to avoid any political or ethnical problems, English has been widely adopted as the new lingua franca, and has already replaced many Afrikaans company names, such as South African Airways. However, Afrikaans speech is still used, especially by the adult population in everyday speech, but English is becoming popular among the younger generation, and Afrikaans itself has already evolved recently by including many more English loan words and spelling.

In Namibia, unlike South Africa, when apartheid ended, there was only a tiny English speaking minority, so Afrikaans has very much 'been chosen' as the lingua franca, also due to the wide variety of languages. Despite this however, English is the only official language and the government aims at increasing its use throughout the country.

Berber

During the rise of Berber dynasties like Almoravids and Almohads between 1040 and 1500, Berber was the lingua franca of North Africa and much of West Africa. It directly influenced many West African languages. Today the language is less influential due to its suppression and marginalization, and the adoption of French and Arabic by the political regimes of the Berber world as working languages. However, Tuareg, a branch of within the Berber languages, is still playing the role of a lingua franca to some extent in some vast parts of the Sahara Desert especially in southern Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Libya.

Fanagalo

Fanagalo or Fanakalo is a pidgin (simplified language) based on the Zulu, English, and Afrikaans languages. It is used as a lingua franca, mainly in the mining industries in South Africa.^[22][23]

Fula

Fula, also known as Pulaar or Fulfulde depending on the region, is the language of the Fula people – who in turn are known under the various names of Fula or Fulani or Peuls or Fulbe or Fulɓe or Toucouleur. Fula is spoken in all countries directly south of the Sahara (north of Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Mali…). It is spoken mainly by Fula people, but is also used as a lingua franca by several populations of various origin, throughout Western Africa.^{[citation needed]}

Hausa

Hausa is widely spoken through Nigeria and Niger and recognised in neighbouring states such as Ghana, Benin, and Cameroon. The reason for this is that Hausa people used to be traders who led caravans with goods (cotton, leather, slaves, food crops etc.) through the whole West African region, from the Niger Delta to the Atlantic shores at the very west edge of Africa. They also reached North African states through Trans-Saharan routes. Thus trade deals in Timbuktu in modern Mali, Agadez, Ghat, Fez in Northern Africa, and other trade centers were often concluded in Hausa.

Krio

Krio is the most widely spoken language throughout Sierra Leone even though its native speakers, the Sierra Leone Creole people or Krios, (a community of about 300,000 descendants of freed slaves from the West Indies, United States and Britain) make only about 5% of the country's population. The Krio language unites all the different ethnic groups, especially in their trade and interaction with each other. Krio is also spoken in The Gambia.

Manding

The largely interintelligible Manding languages of West Africa serve as lingua francas in various places. For instance Bambara is the most widely spoken language in Mali, and Jula (almost the same as Bambara) is commonly used in western Burkina Faso and northern Côte d'Ivoire. Manding languages have long been used in regional commerce, so much so that the word for trader, jula, was applied to the language currently known by the same name. Other varieties of Manding are used in several other countries, such as Guinea, The Gambia, and Senegal.

Sango

The Sango language is a lingua franca developed for intertribal trading in the Central African Republic. It is based on the Northern Ngbandi language spoken by the Sango people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo but with a large vocabulary of French loan words.

Swahili

Swahili is used throughout large parts of East Africa as a lingua franca, despite being the mother tongue of a relatively small ethnic group on the East African coast and nearby islands in the Indian Ocean. At least as early as the late eighteenth century, Swahili was used along trading and slave routes that extended west across Lake Tanganyika and into the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo. Swahili rose in prominence throughout the colonial era, and has become the predominant African language of Tanzania and Kenya. Some contemporary members of non-Swahili ethnic groups speak Swahili more often than their mother tongues, and many choose to raise their children with Swahili as their first language, leading to the possibility that several smaller East African languages will fade as Swahili transitions from being a regional lingua franca to a regional first language.

Twi

The Twi language is the main language used in Ghana apart from English. It is the language of communication in many of Ghana's big cities and a majority of Ghanaians speak at least some Twi.

Wolof

Wolof is a more widely spoken lingua franca of The Gambia and Senegal, although English and French, the official languages of The Gambia and Senegal, are the lingua francas of the urban areas of the two countries.

Pre-Columbian North America

Chinook Jargon

Chinook Jargon was originally constructed from a great variety of Amerind words of the Pacific Northwest, arising as an intra-indigenous contact language in a region marked by divisive geography and intense linguistic diversity. The participating peoples came from a number of very distinct language families, speaking dozens of individual languages.

After European contact, the Jargon also acquired English and French loans, as well as words brought by other European, Asian, and Polynesian groups. Some individuals from all these groups soon adopted the Jargon as a highly efficient and accessible form of communication. This use continued in some business sectors well into the 20th century and some of its words continue to feature in company and organization names as well as in the regional toponymy.

In the Diocese of Kamloops, British Columbia, hundreds of speakers also learned to read and write the Jargon using the Duployan shorthand via the publication Kamloops Wawa. As a result, the Jargon also had the beginnings of its own literature, mostly translated scripture and classical works, and some local and episcopal news, community gossip and events, and diaries. Novelist and early Native American activist, Marah Ellis Ryan (1860?-1934) used Chinook words and phrases in her writing.

According to Nard Jones, Chinook Jargon was still in use in Seattle until roughly the eve of World War II, especially among the members of the Arctic Club, making Seattle the last city where the language was widely used. Writing in 1972, he remarked that at that later date "Only a few can speak it fully, men of ninety or a hundred years old, like Henry Broderick, the realtor, and Joshua Green, the banker."

Jones estimates that in pioneer times there were about 100,000 speakers of Chinook Jargon.

Nahuatl

Main article: Nahuatl

Classical Nahuatl was the lingua franca of the Aztec Empire in Mesoamerica prior to the Spanish invasion in the 16th century. An extensive corpus of the language as spoken exists. Like Latin and Hebrew (prior to the founding of Israel), Classical Nahuatl was more of a sociolect spoken among the elites (poets, priests, traders, teachers, bureaucrats) than a language spoken in any common family household.

After the Spanish conquest, Nahuatl remained the lingua franca of New Spain. Spanish friars matched the language to a Latin alphabet, and schools were established to teach Nahuatl to Spanish priests, diplomats, judges, and political leaders. In 1570, Nahuatl was made the official language of New Spain, and it became the lingua franca throughout Spanish North America, used in trade and the courts. In 1696, the official use of any language other than Spanish was banned throughout the empire. Especially since Mexican independence, the use of Nahuatl has dwindled.

Pre-Columbian South America

Quechua

Also known as Runa Simi, as the Inca empire rose to prominence in South America, this imperial language became the most widely spoken language in the western regions of the continent. Even among tribes that were not absorbed by the empire Quechua still became an important language for trade because of the empire's influence. Even after the Spanish conquest of Peru Quechua for a long time was the most common language. Today it is still widely spoken although it has given way to Spanish as the more common lingua franca. It is spoken by some 10 million people through much of South America (mostly in Peru, south-western and central Bolivia, southern Colombia and Ecuador, north-western Argentina and northern Chile).

Tupi

The Tupi language served as the lingua franca of Brazil among speakers of the various indigenous languages, mainly in the coastal regions. Tupi as a lingua franca, and as recorded in colonial books, was in fact a creation of the Portuguese, who assembled it from the similarities between the coastal indigenous Tupi-guarani languages. The language served the Jesuit priests as a way to teach natives, and it was widely spoken by Europeans. It was the predominant language spoken in Brazil until 1758, when the Jesuits were expelled from Brazil by the Portuguese government and the use and teaching of Tupi was banned.^[24] Since then, Tupi as Lingua Franca was quickly replaced by Portuguese, although Tupi-guarani family languages are still spoken by small native groups in Brazil.

Pidgins and creoles

Further information: Pidgin and Creole language.

Various pidgin languages have been used in many locations and times as a common trade speech. They can be based on English, French, Chinese, or indeed any other language. A pidgin is defined by its use as a lingua franca, between populations speaking other mother tongues. When a pidgin becomes a population's first language, then it is called a creole language.

Guinea-Bissau Creole

Guinea-Bissau Creole is a Portuguese Creole used as a lingua franca of Guinea-Bissau and Casamance, Senegal among people of different ethnic groups. It is also the mother tongue of many people in Guinea-Bissau.

Tok Pisin

Tok Pisin is largely spoken in Papua New Guinea as a lingua franca. It developed as an English-based creole with influences from local languages and to a smaller extent German or Unserdeutsch and Portuguese. Tok Pisin originated as a pidgin in the 19th century, hence the name 'Tok Pisin' from 'Talk Pidgin', but has now evolved into a modern language.

Also called Pidgin English, this Lingua Franca is also spoken in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The versions of Pidgin vary between PNG, the Solomons and Vanuatu, but all Pidgin speakers from these countries are able to communicate and often understand each others' language variations.

Pidgin English is derived from Australian English and its idioms, so an understanding of vernacular Australian English is often helpful in understanding the origins and application of Pidgin English.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• International English
• International auxiliary language
• Language contact
• Lingua Franca Nova
• Mixed language
• Universal language
• World language
• Ethnologue list of most-spoken languages
• List of languages by number of native speakers

References

1. ^ Viacheslav A. Chirikba, "The problem of the Caucasian Sprachbund" in Pieter Muysken, ed., From Linguistic Areas to Areal Linguistics, 2008, p. 31. ISBN 90-272-3100-1
2. ^ http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~patrickp/Courses/PCs/IntroPidginsCreoles.htm
3. ^ Lingua franca is discussed in these etymology dictionaries: Ernest Weekley Etymology Dictionary (1921), Eric Partridge Etymology Dictionary (1966), Douglas Harper Etymology Dictionary (2001)
4. ^ "Lecture 7: World-Wide English". _EHistLing. http://www.ehistling-pub.meotod.de/01_lec06.php. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
5. ^ "About Us: Languages". Universal Postal Union. http://www.upu.int/about_us/en/languages.shtml. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
6. ^ Henry Romanos Kahane. The Lingua Franca in the Levant (Turkish Nautical Terms of Italian and Greek Origin)
7. ^ Lingua Franca (in Italian)
8. ^ Barbour, Stephen; Cathie Carmichael (2000). Language and Nationalism in Europe. Oxford UP. p. 194. ISBN 0199250855. http://books.google.com/books?id=1ixmu8Iga7gC&pg=PA194. ]
9. ^ ^{a b} "Department for General Assembly and Conference Management - What are the official languages of the United Nations?". United Nations. http://www.un.org/Depts/DGACM/faq_languages.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
10. ^ "Arabic Alphabet". Encyclopaedia Britannica online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9008156/Arabic-alphabet. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
11. ^ ^{a b} "United Nations Arabic Language Programme". United Nations. http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/sds/lcp/Arabic/. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
12. ^ "Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People". Microsoft Encarta 2006. Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. http://www.webcitation.org/query?id=1257013011437361. Retrieved 2007-02-18.
13. ^ Pieter Muysken, "Introduction: Conceptual and methodological issues in areal linguistics", in Pieter Muysken, From Linguistic Areas to Areal Linguistics, 2008 ISBN 90-272-3100-1, p. 30-31 [1]
14. ^ Viacheslav A. Chirikba, "The problem of the Caucasian Sprachbund" in Muysken, p. 74
15. ^ Lenore A. Grenoble, Language Policy in the Soviet Union, 2003 ISBN 1-4020-1298-5,p. 131 [2]
16. ^ Nasledie Chingiskhana by Nikolai Trubetzkoy. Agraf, 1999; p. 478
17. ^ J. N. Postgate. Languages of Iraq. British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007; ISBN 0-903472-21-X; p. 164
18. ^ Dr Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization, HarperCollins,Published 2003
19. ^ Robert Famighetti, The World Almanac and Book of Facts, World Almanac Books, 1998, p. 582
20. ^ John Andrew Boyle, SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SOURCES FOR THE IL-KHANID PERIOD OF PERSIAN HISTORY, in Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies, British Institute of Persian Studies, vol. 12 (1974), p. 175
21. ^ Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History,V, pp. 514-15
22. ^ http://salanguages.com/fanagalo/
23. ^ http://www.cyberserv.co.za/users/~jako/lang/fanagalo/index.htm
24. ^ "Abá nhe'enga oîebyr — Tradução: a língua dos índios está de volta", by Suzel Tunes essay in Portuguese.

Further reading

• Heine, Bernd (1970). Status and Use of African Lingua Francas. ISBN 3-8039-0033-6
• Kahane, Henry Romanos (1958). The Lingua Franca in the Levant.
• R. A. Hall, Jr. (1966). Pidgin and Creole Languages, Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0173-9.
• MELATTI, Julio Cezar (1983). Índios do Brasil. São Paulo:Hucitec Press, 48^th edition

External links

Look up lingua franca in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• English - the universal language on the Internet?
• Lingua franca del Mediterraneo o Sabir of professor Francesco Bruni (in Italian).
• Sample texts from Juan del Encina, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Carlo Goldoni's L'Impresario da Smyrna, Diego de Haedo and other sources.
• An introduction to the original Mediterranean Lingua Franca.

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