An auxiliary language used for routine and often restricted purposes by people who speak different native languages. English and French are frequently used for this purpose in many parts of the world. German is an important lingua franca in E Europe, and Swahili in E Africa. English is an occupational lingua franca in several domains, such as in international air traffic control.
For the magazine, see Lingua Franca.A lingua franca is any language widely used beyond the population of its native speakers. Any given language normally becomes a lingua franca primarily by being used for international commerce, but can be accepted in other cultural exchanges, especially diplomacy.
The term "lingua franca" was originally used by Arabs to name all Romance languages, and especially Italian (Arabs used the name 'Franks' for all peoples in Western Europe). Then, it meant a language with a Romance lexicon (most words derived from Latin which then evolved into early forms of Spanish and Italian) and a very simple grammar, that till the end of the 19th century was used by mariners in the Mediterranean Sea, particularly in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
A related concept is that of a “vehicular language.” It is defined as a basic linguistic structure for proposed “international auxiliary languages,” for example, the use of an Indo-European language, or Indo-European itself, in the development of Esperanto. This mixed language (pidgin, creole language) was used for communication throughout the medieval and early modern Middle East as a diplomatic language; the generic description "lingua franca" has since become common for any language used by speakers of different languages to communicate with one another.
Italian dialects were spoken in medieval times as lingua franca in the european commercial empires of Italian cities (Genoa, Venice, Florence, Milan, Pisa, Siena, Amalfi) and in their colonies located in the Middle East and in the Mediterranean sea. The Italian language is actually used as a lingua franca in some environments.
Greek and Latin
During the time of the Roman Empire, the lingua franca was Koine Greek and Latin. Latin for a significant portion of the expansion of the Roman Catholic Church was used as the basis of the Church, though this was changed to local languages, although it it still the official language of the Vatican.
French
French was the language of diplomacy in Europe from the 17th century until its recent replacement by English, and as a result is still the working language of international institutions and is seen on documents ranging from passports to airmail letters.
French was also the language used among the educated in cosmopolitan cities in North Africa such as Cairo, Egypt around the turn of the century until World War II. Until the outbreak of the civil war in Lebanon, French was the language that the upper classes of Lebanese society used by way of "civilised language".
Spanish
Spanish replaced Latin as the language of diplomacy and (in some aspects) culture during the 16th and early 17th centuries, when it was replaced by French.
German
German served as a lingua franca in large portions of Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries in the sciences — particularly in physics, chemistry and sociology — as well as in business and politics.
English
English is the current lingua franca of international business and air traffic control, and has displaced French as the lingua franca of diplomacy since World War II.
A landmark recognition of the dominance of English in Europe came in 1995 when, on the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, English joined French and German as one of the working languages of the European Union. Many Europeans outside of the EU have also adopted English as their current lingua franca. For example, English serves as a lingua franca in Switzerland, which has four official languages (German, French, Italian, plus Romansch, spoken by a relatively small minority).
Outside Europe
In other regions of the world, other languages perform the function of a lingua franca.
Arabic
Arabic, the native language of the Arabs, who originally came from the Arabian Peninsula, became the "lingua franca" of the Islamic Empire (from 700A.D. It influenced African sub-Saharan languages, east African languages, such as Swahili and loaned many words to Persian, Turkish, Urdu and to some extent to European languages such as Spanish and Portuguese. Arabic script was adopted by many other languages such as Urdu, Persian, Swahili (changed to Latin in the 1700's) and Turkish which switched to Latin script in 1923. Arabic became the lingua franca of these regions mainly because it was the language of the Qur’an, Islam's holy book.
Aramaic
Aramaic, the native language of the Arameans, became the lingua franca of the Assyrian Empire and the western provinces of the Persian Empire, mainly because of its simple, alphabetic writing system, more useful in administration than cuneiform.
Azeri
According to Russian historian Nikolai Trubetskoi, Azeri served as a lingua franca throughout most parts of Transcaucasia (except the Black Sea coast), in Turkish Armenia, Kurdistan, Northern Persia, and Southern Dagestan.
Chinese
Classical Chinese previously served as both a written lingua franca and diplomatic language in Far East Asia, used by China, Korea, Japan, the Ryukyus, and Vietnam in interstate communications. Currently, among most Chinese-speaking communities, Standard Mandarin serves the function of providing a common spoken language between speakers of different and mutually unintelligible Chinese spoken languages - not to mention between the Han people and other ethnic groups in China. Hindi is the official language and lingua franca of India and Urdu is the official language and lingua franca of Pakistan.
Also see Hindustani
Portuguese
Portuguese served as lingua franca in Africa 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. Through a process of change the Lingua Franca and Portuguese lexicon was replaced with the languages of the people in contact.
Russian
Russian is in use and widely understood in areas of Central and Eastern Europe and Northern and Central Asia formerly part of the Soviet Union, or of the former Soviet bloc.
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. 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.
Tupi
The now-extinct language of Old Tupi served as the lingua franca of Brazil between speakers of the various indigenous languages.
Zulu
South Africa has eleven official languages, however the mutual intelligibility of many Nguni languages (Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi and Ndebele) has meant that Zulu is increasingly becoming a lingua franca throughout Eastern South Africa, including the major cities of Durban and Johannesburg. Zulu is the first language of ten million people, but is spoken as a second language by over 25 million in the region and is now the most commonly understood language in the country.
Pidgin
Various pidgin languages have been used in many locations and times as a common trade speech.
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