List of lingua francas 1 List of lingua francas A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a first language, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both speakers' first languages. Examples of lingua francas are numerous, and exist on every continent. The most obvious example is English, which is the current lingua franca of international business, science, technology and aviation. There are many other lingua francas centralized on particular regions, such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish. The popularity of languages changes over time, and there are many lingua francas that are of historical importance. These include French, which was the language of European diplomacy from the 17th century until the mid-20th century, and Classical Chinese, which served as both the written lingua franca and the diplomatic language in Far East Asia until the early 20th century. French and Chinese are still significant lingua francas today. 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 South African government aimed to establish it as the primary 'lingua franca' in South Africa and South African-controlled South-West Africa (now Namibia), although English was also in common use. Since the end of apartheid, to avoid any political or ethnic problems, English has been widely adopted as the sole lingua franca. Many Afrikaans company names have been dropped, such as those of South African Airways and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which are now solely to be referred to by their English names in official documentation. Afrikaans is still widely used, especially by the adult population in everyday speech; however, English is becoming more popular among the younger generation. Afrikaans itself is also still developing, recently including many more English loan words and spelling conventions. In Namibia, Afrikaans holds a more universal role than in South Africa, across ethnic groups and races and is the spoken lingua franca in the capital Windhoek and throughout most of central and southern Namibia, although there are pockets where German is the lingua franca. English is the sole official language and thus important in government spheres and is also dominant on written signs, however its role as a spoken lingua franca is secondary to Afrikaans. Arabic There are more Arabic speakers in Africa than Asia. It is spoken not only in the countries on the south coast of the Mediterranean, but also across the Sahara as far as the Sahel. There are Arabic speakers in Mali, Chad and Maidaguri State in Nigeria. It is also widely spoken as a second language in the Horn of Africa and is an official language in both Eritrea and Somalia. Arabic is also an official language in Comoros. (See Arabic in Asia below.) Berber During the rise of Berber dynasties like Almoravids and Almohads between 1040 and 1500, Berber was the lingua franca of North Africa. 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 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.
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List of lingua francas 1
List of lingua francasA lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a firstlanguage, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both speakers' first languages. Examples of linguafrancas are numerous, and exist on every continent. The most obvious example is English, which is the currentlingua franca of international business, science, technology and aviation. There are many other lingua francascentralized on particular regions, such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish.The popularity of languages changes over time, and there are many lingua francas that are of historical importance.These include French, which was the language of European diplomacy from the 17th century until the mid-20thcentury, and Classical Chinese, which served as both the written lingua franca and the diplomatic language in FarEast Asia until the early 20th century. French and Chinese are still significant lingua francas today.
Africa
AfrikaansAfrikaans is spoken as a first language by many millions of people in South Africa, both white and non-white, and asa second language by millions more. During apartheid, the South African government aimed to establish it as theprimary 'lingua franca' in South Africa and South African-controlled South-West Africa (now Namibia), althoughEnglish was also in common use. Since the end of apartheid, to avoid any political or ethnic problems, English hasbeen widely adopted as the sole lingua franca. Many Afrikaans company names have been dropped, such as those ofSouth African Airways and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which are now solely to be referred to bytheir English names in official documentation. Afrikaans is still widely used, especially by the adult population ineveryday speech; however, English is becoming more popular among the younger generation. Afrikaans itself is alsostill developing, recently including many more English loan words and spelling conventions.In Namibia, Afrikaans holds a more universal role than in South Africa, across ethnic groups and races and is thespoken lingua franca in the capital Windhoek and throughout most of central and southern Namibia, although thereare pockets where German is the lingua franca. English is the sole official language and thus important ingovernment spheres and is also dominant on written signs, however its role as a spoken lingua franca is secondary toAfrikaans.
ArabicThere are more Arabic speakers in Africa than Asia. It is spoken not only in the countries on the south coast of theMediterranean, but also across the Sahara as far as the Sahel. There are Arabic speakers in Mali, Chad and MaidaguriState in Nigeria. It is also widely spoken as a second language in the Horn of Africa and is an official language inboth Eritrea and Somalia. Arabic is also an official language in Comoros. (See Arabic in Asia below.)
BerberDuring the rise of Berber dynasties like Almoravids and Almohads between 1040 and 1500, Berber was the linguafranca of North Africa. Today the language is less influential due to its suppression and marginalization, and theadoption of French and Arabic by the political regimes of the Berber world as working languages. However, Tuareg,a branch of the Berber languages, is still playing the role of a lingua franca to some extent in some vast parts of theSahara Desert especially in southern Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Libya.
FanagaloFanagalo or Fanakalo is a pidgin based on the Zulu, English, and Afrikaans languages. It was used as a lingua francamainly in the mining industries in South Africa, however in this role it is being increasingly eclipsed by Englishwhich is viewed as being more neutral politically.[1]
FulaFula (Fula: Fulfulde or Pulaar or Pular, depending on the region; French: Peul) the language of the Fula people orFulani (Fula: Fulɓe; French: Peuls) and associated groups such as the Toucouleur. Fula is spoken in all countriesdirectly south of the Sahara (such as 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.
HausaHausa is widely spoken through Nigeria and Niger and recognised in neighbouring states such as Ghana, Benin, andCameroon. 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 thevery west edge of Africa. They also reached North African states through Trans-Saharan routes. Thus trade deals inTimbuktu in modern Mali, Agadez, Ghat, Fez in Northern Africa, and other trade centers were often concluded inHausa.
KrioKrio is the most widely spoken language throughout Sierra Leone even though its native speakers, the Sierra LeoneCreole people or Krios (a community of about 300,000 descendants of formerly enslaved people from the WestIndies, United States and Britain), make up only about 5% of the country's population. The Krio language unites allthe different ethnic groups, especially in their trade and interaction with each other. Krio is also spoken in TheGambia.
LingalaLingala is used by over 10 million speakers throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of theCongo and a large part of the Republic of the Congo, as well as to some degree in Angola and the Central AfricanRepublic, although it has only about two million native speakers.[2] Its status is comparable to that of Swahili ineastern Africa.Between 1880 and 1900, the colonial administration, in need of a common language for the region, adopted asimplified form of Bobangi, the language of the Bangala people, which became Lingala. Spoken Lingala has manyloanwords from French, inflected with Lingala affixes.
MandingThe largely interintelligible Manding languages of West Africa serve as lingua francas in various places. Forinstance Bambara is the most widely spoken language in Mali, and Jula (almost the same as Bambara) is commonlyused in western Burkina Faso and northern Côte d'Ivoire. Manding languages have long been used in regionalcommerce, 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.
SangoThe Sango language is a lingua franca developed for intertribal trading in the Central African Republic. It is basedon the Northern Ngbandi language spoken by the Sango people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo but with alarge vocabulary of French loan words. It has now been institutionalised as an official language of the CentralAfrican Republic.
SwahiliSwahili is used throughout large parts of East Africa as a lingua franca, despite being the mother tongue of arelatively small ethnic group on the East African coast and nearby islands in the Indian Ocean. At least as early asthe late 18th century, Swahili was used along trading and slave routes that extended west across Lake Tanganyikaand into the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo. Swahili rose in prominence throughout the colonial era, andhas become the predominant African language of Tanzania and Kenya. Some contemporary members of non-Swahiliethnic groups speak Swahili more often than their mother tongues, and many choose to raise their children withSwahili as their first language, leading to the possibility that several smaller East African languages will fade asSwahili transitions from being a regional lingua franca to a regional first language.
WolofWolof is a widely spoken lingua franca of Senegal and The Gambia (especially the capital, Banjul). It is the nativelanguage of approximately 5 million Wolof people in Senegal, and is spoken as a second language by an equalnumber.
Asia
AkkadianIn the Middle East, from around 2500BCE to 1500BCE, forms of Akkadian were the universally recognizedlanguage. It was used throughout the Akkadian empire as well as internationally as a diplomatic language — forexample between Egypt and Babylon — well after the fall of the Akkadian empire itself and even while Aramaicwas more common in Babylon.
An example of a text written in Arabic calligraphy.
Arabic, the native language of the Arabs,who originally came from the ArabianPeninsula, became the "lingua franca" of theIslamic (Arab) Empire (from CE 733 –1492), which at a certain point spread fromthe borders of China and Northern Indiathrough Central Asia, Persia, Asia Minor,Middle East, North Africa all the way toSpain and Portugal in the west.
Arabic was also used by peopleneighbouring the Islamic Empire. Duringthe Islamic Golden Age, Arabic was thelanguage of science and diplomacy (aroundCE 1200), when more books were written inArabic than in any other language in theworld at that time period. It influenced manysub-Saharan African languages, with stronger influences on east African languages, such as Swahili and loanedmany words to Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Spanish and Portuguese, countries it ruled for 700 years (see Al-Andalus). Italso 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 19thcentury) and Turkish which switched to Latin script in 1928. Arabic became the lingua franca of these regions notsimply 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 22countries (24 if one was to include the Palestinian territories and Western Sahara), in the Middle East and NorthAfrica in addition to Chad. Despite a few language script conversions from Arabic to Latin as just described, Arabicis the second most widely used alphabetic system in the world after Latin.[3] Arabic script is/has been used inlanguages including Afrikaans, Bosnian, Hausa, Kashmiri, Kazakh, Kurdish, Kyrghyz, Malay, Morisco, Pashto,Persian, Punjabi, Sindhi, Tatar, Turkish, Urdu, Uyghur.[4]
According to Encarta, which classified Chinese as a single language, Arabic is the second largest native language.[5]
Used by more than a billion Muslims around the world,[4] it is also one of the six official languages of the UnitedNations.[6]
AramaicAramaic was the native language of the Aramaeans and became the lingua franca of the Assyrian Empire and thewestern provinces of the Persian Empire, and was adopted by conquered peoples such as the Hebrews. A dialect ofOld Aramaic developed into the literary language Syriac. The Syriacs, such as the Syriac-Aramaean, Assyrian andChaldean Christians, continued the use of Aramaic which ultimately evolved into the Neo-Aramaic dialects of theMiddle East.
AzeriAzeri served as a lingua franca in Transcaucasia (except the Black Sea coast and most of Georgia), SouthernDaghestan,[7][8][9] and Iranian Azerbaijan from the 16th century to the early 20th century. Its role has now beentaken over by Russian in the North Caucasus, and by the official languages of the various independent states of theSouth Caucasus.[10][11]
A letter dated 1266 from Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire to the "Kingof Japan" (日 本 國 王) was written in Classical Chinese. Now stored in
Todai-ji, Nara, Japan.
Until the early 20th century, Classical Chineseserved as both the written lingua franca and thediplomatic language in Far East Asia includingChina, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, the RyūkyūKingdom, and Vietnam. In the early 20th century,vernacular written Chinese replaced ClassicalChinese within China as both the written andspoken lingua franca for speakers of differentChinese dialects, and because of the falling powerand cultural influence of China in East Asia,English has since replaced Classical Chinese as thelingua franca in East Asia. Outside of China,Cantonese and Hokkien have served as the linguafrancas among overseas Chinese because mostChinese emigrants were from Guangdong andFujian. However, since the late 20th century whenChina started economic reform, Mandarin hasbecome the lingua franca because overseas Chinesenow include people coming from many differentregions of China. Today in Mainland China of thePeople's Republic of China and Taiwan, Mandarinis the lingua franca between speakers of differentand mutually unintelligible languages, and betweenthe Han Chinese and other ethnic groups; howeverin Guangdong province, Hong Kong, and Macau,Cantonese remains the spoken lingua franca.Hokkien used to be the spoken lingua franca among ethnic Chinese in Singapore and some parts of Malaysia, thoughthis too is being supplanted by the use of Mandarin.
Hebrew
Throughout the centuries of Jewish exile, Hebrew has served the Jewish people as a lingua franca; allowing Jewsfrom different areas of the world to communicate effectively with one another. This was particularly valuable forcross-culture mercantile trading that became one of the default occupations held by Jews in exilic times. Without theneed for translators, documents could easily be written up to convey significant legal trade information. Among earlyZionists, a newly reconstructed form of Hebrew served as a common language between Jews from nations as diverseas 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-UrduHindustani, or Hindi–Urdu, is commonly spoken in India and Pakistan. It encompasses two standardized registers inthe form of the official languages of Hindi and Urdu, as well as several nonstandard dialects. Hindi is one of theofficial languages of India, and Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. Urdu is also an officiallanguage in India. However, whilst the words and much of the speaking may sound similar, small differences arepresent, and Urdu is written in Nastaliq script while Hindi is written in the Devanagari script.
Hindi is also a lingua franca in Nepal. It has been proven that most of the people in Nepal understand Hindi, and alarge proportion can even speak and write it. In the Terai i.e. floodplain districts of Nepal (along the Indian border),Hindi is the dominant language, though the people's mother tongues are typically Avadhi, Maithili, or Bhojpuri.Additionally, Hindi-Urdu is useful throughout the world due to the export of labor from South Asia. It is commonlyspoken among working populations on land and at sea throughout the Middle East and East Africa.
Malay-IndonesianIn the 15th century, during the Malacca Sultanate, Malay was used as a lingua franca in the Malay archipelago, bythe locals as much as by the traders and artisans that stopped at Malacca via the Straits of Malacca. Malay was alsopresumably used as a language of trade among the elites and artisans around the islands of modern-day Philippines.Dutch scholar, Francois Valentijn (1666–1727) described the use of Malay in the region as being equivalent to thecontemporary use of Latin and French in Europe.[12]
Nowadays, Malay is used mostly in Malaysia (officially called Bahasa Malaysia) and Brunei, and to a lesser extentin Singapore and various parts of Sumatra. One of Singapore's four official languages, the Malay language or'Bahasa Melayu' was the lingua franca for Malays in Singapore prior to the introduction of English as a working andinstructional language, and remains so for the elder generation.Indonesian, a language based on traditional Malay, but also influenced by various languages such Dutch, Arabic, andPortuguese, serves as a lingua franca throughout Indonesia and East Timor (where it is considered a workinglanguage), areas that are home to over 700 indigenous languages.
NepaliNepali is the lingua franca of the many ethnic, religious and cultural communities of Nepal, and is also spoken inBhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar (Burma). It is one of 23 official languages of India incorporated in 8thannex of the Indian Constitution. It has official language status in the formerly independent state of Sikkim and inWest Bengal's Darjeeling district. Similarly, it is widely spoken in the state of Uttarakhand, as well as in the state ofAssam. While Nepali is closely related to the Hindi–Urdu complex and is mutually intelligible to a degree, it hasmore Sanskritic derivations and fewer Persian or English loan words. Nepali is commonly written in the Devanagariscript, as are Hindi, Sanskrit and Marathi.
PersianPersian became the second lingua franca of the Islamic world, in particular of the eastern regions.[13] Besides servingas 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 thePersian language, were used by the cultural elites from the Balkans to India.[14] For example, Persian was the onlyoriental language known and used by Marco Polo at the Court of Kubla Khan and in his journeys through China.[15]
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 Persianlanguage, which had been fashioned into literary form in mighty works of art ... gained a currency as alingua franca; and at its widest, about the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries of the Christian Era, itsrange in this role extended, without a break, across the face of South-Eastern Europe and South-WesternAsia.[16]
Persian remains the lingua franca in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan and was the lingua franca of India before theBritish conquest. It is still understood by many in India and Pakistan.
SanskritSanskrit was widely used across South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia at various times in ancientand medieval times; it has religious significance for those religious traditions that arose from the Vedic religion.
TamilTamil is the lingua franca not just in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, but also a much larger swatheof South India, with many second language speakers in neighbouring Indian states.[17] It is one of the officiallanguages of India,[18] as well as one of the official languages of Singapore and the national language of SriLanka.[17] There are significant numbers of Tamil speakers in Malaysia, South Africa, Bahrain, the United Kingdom,and Canada.[17] Tamil is a classical language, with a long and rich history.[19]
TeluguTelugu is the lingua franca in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam district of Puducherry. As of 2001, ithad the third largest number of native speakers in India, behind Hindi and Bengali.[20] Telugu is one of the fourclassical languages as declared by the Government of India.
MalayalamMalayalam is the lingua franca in the Indian state of Kerala, Lakshadweep and Mahé district of Puducherry withmany second language speakers in neighbouring Indian states.[17] It is one of the official languages of India.[18]
There are significant numbers of Malayalam speakers in Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Middle East, the UnitedKingdom, and Canada.[17] As of 2001, it had the eighth largest number of native speakers in India and hastwenty-eighth rank in most spoken languages of the world.[20] Malayalam is one of the languages that demandedclassical language status from the Government of India, as it is about 1500 years old.
Europe
DanishDanish served as the lingua franca of the territories under Kalmar Union; nowadays, Danish is the lingua franca of 2territories belong to Kalmar Union, Faroe Islands and Greenland.
EnglishEnglish is the current lingua franca of international business, education, science, technology, diplomacy,entertainment, radio, seafaring, and aviation. It has replaced French as the lingua franca of diplomacy since WorldWar II. The rise of English in diplomacy began in 1919, in the aftermath of World War I, when the Treaty ofVersailles was written in English as well as in French, the dominant language used in diplomacy until that time. Thewidespread use of English was further advanced by the prominent international role played by English-speakingnations (the United States and the Commonwealth of Nations) in the aftermath of World War II, particularly in theestablishment and organization of the United Nations. English is one of the six official languages of the UnitedNations (the other five being French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish). The seating and roll-call order insessions of the United Nations and its subsidiary and affiliated organizations is determined by alphabetical order ofthe English names of the countries.When the United Kingdom became a colonial power, English served as the lingua franca of the colonies of the British Empire. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations which 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, India, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, so that by the late 19thcentury its reach was truly global,[21] and in the latter half of the 20th century, widespread international use ofEnglish was much reinforced by the global economic, financial, scientific, military, and cultural pre-eminence of theEnglish-speaking countries and especially the U.S. Today, more than half of all scientific journals are published inEnglish, while in France, almost one third of all natural science research appears in English,[22] lending some supportto English being the lingua franca of science and technology. English is also the lingua franca of international AirTraffic Control and seafaring communications.
FrenchFrench was the language of European diplomacy from the 17th century until the mid-20th century, and is still aworking language of some international institutions. It was also the lingua franca of European literature in the 18thcentury. French is still seen on documents ranging from passports to airmail letters. Until the accession of the UnitedKingdom, Ireland, and Denmark in 1973, French and German were the official working languages of the EuropeanEconomic Community.French was spoken by educated people in cosmopolitan cities of the Middle East and North Africa and remains so inthe former French colonies of the Maghreb, where French is particularly important in economic capitals such asAlgiers, Casablanca and Tunis. Until the outbreak of the civil war in Lebanon, French was spoken by the upper-classChristian population. French is still a lingua franca in most Western and Central African countries and an officiallanguage of some, a remnant of French and Belgian colonialism. These African countries and others are members ofthe Francophonie. French is the official language of the Universal Postal Union, with English added as a workinglanguage in 1994.[23] French is the main language of Québec, an official language of Canada, and the secondlanguage of Luxembourg, Belgium, and Switzerland. French today enjoys a status in administrative and educationsectors in former French Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam) that the language makes the lingua franca ofmany educated people within those countries.
GermanGerman served as a lingua franca in large portions of Europe for centuries, mainly the Holy Roman Empire.Previously one of the official languages of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, German remained an important secondlanguage in much of Central and Eastern Europe long after the dissolution of that empire after 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 thepop.), Croatia (34%),[24] the Czech Republic (31%) and Slovakia (28%). In others, it is also known by significantnumbers 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 workersfrom central and east Europe.In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, German was a prerequisite language for scientists. Despite the anti-Germansentiment after World War II it remains a widespread language among scientists.Within Western Europe, it is also (along with English and French) one of the most spoken foreign languages. It ismost widely known in the Netherlands, in Denmark and in Sweden. It is also the primary language of Switzerland.Within the European Union, German native speakers (in Austria, parts of Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and inthe Italian province South Tyrol/Alto Adige) form the most numerous language group with just under 100 millionmembers.
Greek and LatinDuring 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 wherethe Byzantine Empire held hegemony, and Latin was primarily used in the rest of Europe. Latin, for a significantportion of the expansion of the Roman Catholic Church, was used as the basis of the Church. During the SecondVatican Council, Catholic liturgy changed to local languages, although Latin remains the official language of theVatican. Latin was used as the language of scholars in Europe until the early 19th century in most subjects. Forinstance, Christopher Simpson's "Chelys or The Division viol" on how to improvise on the viol (viola da gamba) waspublished in 1665 in a multilingual edition in Latin and English, to make the material accessible for the widerEuropean music community. Another example is the Norwegian (and Danish, since Norway was then in union withDenmark) writer Ludvig Holberg, who published his book "Nicolai Klimii iter subterraneum" in 1741 about an idealsociety "Potu" ("Utop" backwards) with equality between the genders and an egalitarian structure, in Latin inGermany to avoid Danish censorship and to reach a greater audience. Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis PrincipiaMathematica was published in Latin in 1687: the first English translation did not appear until 1729. In subjects likemedicine and theology Latin has been a subject of study until the present day in most European universities, despitedeclining use in recent years.
ItalianThe Mediterranean Lingua Franca was largely based on Italian and Provençal. This language was spoken from the11th to 19th centuries around the Mediterranean basin, particularly in the European commercial empires of Italiancities (Genoa, Venice, Florence, Milan, Pisa, Siena, Ragusa) and in trading ports located throughout the easternMediterranean rim.[25]
During the Renaissance, Italian was also spoken as language of culture in the main royal courts of Europe andamong intellectuals. This lasted from the 14th century to the end of the 16th century, when French replaced Italian aslingua franca in northern Europe.The Italian language is still used as a lingua franca in some environments. For example, in the Catholic ecclesiastichierarchy, Italian is known by a large part of members and is used in substitution of Latin in some official documentsas well. The presence of Italian as the second official language in Vatican City indicates its use not only in the seat inRome, 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 andItalian Somalia.[26] At present, Italian is the lingua franca of educated people of Eritrea, Libya, and Somalia. Manymusical terms encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes are in Italian, in accordance with theItalian origins of many European musical conventions.
Low GermanFrom about 1200 to 1600, Middle Low German was the language of the Hanseatic League which was present inmost Northern European seaports, even London. It resulted in numerous Low German words being borrowed intoDanish, Norwegian and Swedish. After the Middle Ages, modern High German began to displace Low German, andit has now been reduced to a regional dialect.
PolishPolish was a lingua franca in areas of Eastern Europe, especially regions that belonged to the Polish-LithuanianCommonwealth. Polish was for several centuries the main language spoken by the ruling classes in Lithuania andUkraine, and the modern state of Belarus.[27] After the Partitions of Poland and the incorporation of most of thePolish areas into the Russian Empire as Congress Poland, the Russian language almost completely supplanted Polish.
PortuguesePortuguese served as lingua franca in Africa, South America and Asia in the 15th and 16th centuries. When thePortuguese started exploring the seas of Africa, America, Asia and Oceania, they tried to communicate with thenatives by mixing a Portuguese-influenced version of Lingua Franca with the local languages. When English orFrench ships came to compete with the Portuguese, the crews tried to learn this "broken Portuguese". Through aprocess of change the Lingua Franca and Portuguese lexicon was replaced with the languages of the people incontact.Portuguese remains an important lingua franca in Africa (PALOP), East Timor, Goa, and to a certain extent inMacau where it is recognized as an official language alongside Chinese though in practice not commonly spoken.
RussianRussian is in use and widely understood in Northern and Central Asia, areas formerly part of the Soviet Union orbloc, and may be understood by older people in Central and Eastern Europe, formerly part of the Warsaw Pact. Itremains the lingua franca in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Russian is also one of the six officiallanguages of the United Nations.[6]
Serbo-CroatianSerbo-Croatian is a lingua franca in the territories of the former Yugoslavia, that is, modern Bosnia andHerzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
SpanishWith the growth of the Spanish Empire, Spanish became established in the Americas, as well as in parts of Africa,Asia and Oceania. It became the language of global trade until Napoleonic Wars and the breakup of the SpanishEmpire at the beginning of the 19th century. Spanish was used as lingua franca throughout the former SpanishColonial Empire, except territory in present day U.S., but particularly in present-day Mexico, Spanish Caribbean,Central America and South America, and it's still a lingua franca within Hispanic America.Presently it is the second most used language in international trade, after English, and the third most used in politics,diplomacy and culture, after English and French.[28]
YiddishYiddish originated in the Ashkenazi culture that developed from about the 10th century in the Rhineland and thenspread 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 stillspoken today, includes a significant but varying percentage of words from Slavic, Romanian and other locallanguages.On the eve of World War II, there were 11 to 13 million Yiddish speakers, for many of whom Yiddish was not theprimary language. The Holocaust, however, led to a dramatic, sudden decline in the use of Yiddish, as the extensiveJewish 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 Statesand the Soviet Union, along with the strictly Hebrew monolingual stance of the Zionist movement, led to a decline inthe 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 languagelearned 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 andoften 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 generationimmigrants often continued to communicate with their relatives who remained in Europe or moved to Israel, withEnglish, Spanish or Portuguese being primary language of the first and Russian, Romanian, or Hebrew that of thesecond.
Pre-Columbian North America
Chinook JargonChinook Jargon was originally constructed from a great variety of Amerind words of the Pacific Northwest, arisingas 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 individuallanguages.After European contact, the Jargon also acquired English and French loans, as well as words brought by otherEuropean, Asian, and Polynesian groups. Some individuals from all these groups soon adopted the Jargon as a highlyefficient and accessible form of communication. This use continued in some business sectors well into the 20thcentury and some of its words continue to feature in company and organization names as well as in the regionaltoponymy.In the Diocese of Kamloops, British Columbia, hundreds of speakers also learned to read and write the Jargon usingthe Duployan shorthand via the publication Kamloops Wawa. As a result, the Jargon also had the beginnings of itsown literature, mostly translated scripture and classical works, and some local and episcopal news, communitygossip and events, and diaries. Novelist and early Native American activist, Marah Ellis Ryan (1860?–1934) usedChinook 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, especiallyamong the members of the Arctic Club, making Seattle the last city where the language was widely used. Writing in1972, he remarked that at that later date "Only a few can speak it fully, men of ninety or a hundred years old, likeHenry Broderick, the realtor, and Joshua Green, the banker."Jones estimates that in pioneer times there were about 100,000 speakers of Chinook Jargon.
NahuatlClassical Nahuatl was the lingua franca of the Aztec Empire in Mesoamerica prior to the Spanish invasion in the16th century. An extensive corpus of the language as spoken exists. Like Latin and Hebrew (prior to the founding ofIsrael), 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 languageto a Latin alphabet, and schools were established to teach Nahuatl to Spanish priests, diplomats, judges, and politicalleaders. In 1570, Nahuatl was made the official language of New Spain, and it became the lingua franca throughoutSpanish North America, used in trade and the courts. During the prolonged Spanish conquest of Guatemala Spain'snative allies, mostly from Tlaxcala and Cholula, spread Nahuatl to Maya areas where it was not spoken prior to thearrival of the Spanish, resulting in Nahuatl placenames across Guatemala which persist up to the present.[29] In 1696,the official use of any language other than Spanish was banned throughout the empire. Especially since Mexicanindependence, the use of Nahuatl has dwindled.
South AmericaPortuguese and Spanish started to grow as lingua francas in the region in since the conquests of the 16th century. Inthe Case of Spanish this process was not even and as the Spanish used the structure of Inca Empire to consolidatetheir rule Quechua remained the lingua franca of large parts of what is now Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Quechuaimportance as a language for trade and dealing with Spanish-approved indigenous authorities (curaca) made thelanguage expand even after the Spanish conquest. It was not until the rebellion of Túpac Amaru II that the Spanishauthorities changed to a policy of Hispanization that was continued by the republican states of Peru, Ecuador andBolivia. Quechua also lost influence to Spanish as the commerce circuits grew to integrate other parts of the SpanishEmpire were Quechua was unknown, for example Rio de la Plata and Chile.
QuechuaAlso known as Runa Simi, as the Inca empire rose to prominence in South America, this imperial language becamethe most widely spoken language in the western regions of the continent. Even among tribes that were not absorbedby the empire Quechua still became an important language for trade because of the empire's influence. Even after theSpanish conquest of Peru, Quechua for a long time was the most common language. Today it is still widely spokenalthough it has given way to Spanish as the more common lingua franca. It is spoken by some 10 million peoplethrough much of South America (mostly in Peru, south-western and central Bolivia, southern Colombia andEcuador, north-western Argentina and northern Chile).
MapudungunMapudungun was for a long time used as lingua franca in large portions of Chile and Argentine Patagonia. Adoptionof Spanish was in Chile a slow process and by the 19th century the unconquered Indians of Araucanía had spreadtheir language across the Andes during a process called Araucanization. Pehuenches were among the firstnon-Mapuche tribes to adopt the language. The increasing commerce over the Andes and the migration of Mapuchesinto the Patagonian plains contributed to the adoption of Mapudungun by other tribes of a more simple materialculture. Even in Chiloé Archipelago Spaniards and mestizos adopted a dialect of Mapudungun as their mainlanguage.
TupiThe Old 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 thePortuguese, who assembled it from the similarities between the coastal indigenous Tupi–Guarani languages. Thelanguage served the Jesuit priests as a way to teach natives, and it was widely spoken by Europeans. It was thepredominant language spoken in Brazil until 1758, when the Jesuits were expelled from Brazil by the Portuguesegovernment and the use and teaching of Tupi was banned.[30] Since then, Tupi as Lingua Franca was quicklyreplaced by Portuguese, although various Tupi–Guarani languages are still spoken by small native groups in Brazil.
Pidgins and creolesVarious pidgin languages have been used in many locations and times as a common trade speech. They can be basedon English, French, Chinese, or indeed any other language. A pidgin is defined by its use as a lingua franca, betweenpopulations speaking other mother tongues. When a pidgin becomes a population's first language, then it is called acreole language.
Guinea-Bissau CreoleGuinea-Bissau Creole is a Portuguese Creole used as a lingua franca of Guinea-Bissau and Casamance, Senegalamong people of different ethnic groups. It is also the mother tongue of many people in Guinea-Bissau.
Tok PisinTok Pisin is widely spoken in Papua New Guinea as a lingua franca. It developed as an Australian English-basedcreole with influences from local languages and to a smaller extent German or Unserdeutch and Portuguese. TokPisin originated as a pidgin in the 19th century, hence the name 'Tok Pisin' from 'Talk Pidgin', but has now evolvedinto a modern language.Also called Pidgin English, this Lingua Franca is also spoken in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The versions ofPidgin vary between PNG, the Solomons and Vanuatu, but all Pidgin speakers from these countries are able tocommunicate and often understand each other's language variations.
books?id=VD0vV48p8XIC& pg=PA50#v=onepage& q& f=false). In McLaughlin, Fiona. The Languages of Urban Africa. London, NewYork: Continuum. pp. 50–70. ISBN 978-1-84706-116-4. . Retrieved 21 July 2011.
[5] "Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People" (http:/ / www. webcitation. org/ query?id=1257013011437361). Microsoft Encarta2006. Archived from the original (http:/ / encarta. msn. com/ media_701500404/ Languages_Spoken_by_More_Than_10_Million_People.html) on 2009-10-31. . Retrieved 2007-02-18.
[6] "Department for General Assembly and Conference Management – What are the official languages of the United Nations?" (http:/ / web.archive. org/ web/ 20071012035848/ http:/ / www. un. org/ Depts/ DGACM/ faq_languages. htm). United Nations. Archived from the original(http:/ / www. un. org/ Depts/ DGACM/ faq_languages. htm) on 2007-10-12. . Retrieved 2008-01-25.
[7] Pieter Muysken, "Introduction: Conceptual and methodological issues in areal linguistics", in Pieter Muysken, From Linguistic Areas to ArealLinguistics, 2008 ISBN 90-272-3100-1, p. 30–31 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=n9p4rl09ec0C& printsec=frontcover& dq=azeri+lingua+ franca& ei=8voWSYynLJWszASRneW3Ag#PPA30,M1)
[8][8] Viacheslav A. Chirikba, "The problem of the Caucasian Sprachbund" in Muysken, p. 74[9] Lenore A. Grenoble, Language Policy in the Soviet Union, 2003 ISBN 1-4020-1298-5,p. 131 (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=Nn3xDTiL0PQC& pg=PA127& dq=azeri+ lingua+ franca& ei=7fwWSf3mNY3IMtCxtOcN#PPA131,M1)[10] Nasledie Chingiskhana (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=gxXtKAAACAAJ& dq=Nasledie+ Chingiskhana) by Nikolai Trubetzkoy.
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Bahasa dan Persuratan Melayu). page 10. Terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP). (http:/ / appw05. dbp. gov. my/ dokumen/buku_pelan_strategik. pdf)
[13] Dr Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization, HarperCollins,Published 2003[14] Robert Famighetti, The World Almanac and Book of Facts, World Almanac Books, 1998, p. 582[15] 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[16] Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History,V, pp. 514–15[17] "Tamil" (http:/ / www. ethnologue. com/ show_language. asp?code=tam). Ethnologue. . Retrieved 2011-02-02.
[18] Commissioner Linguistic Minorities, 42nd report: July 2003 – June 2004 (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20071008113359/ http:/ / nclm.nic. in/ shared/ linkimages/ 35. htm), p. para 15.4, archived from the original (http:/ / nclm. nic. in/ shared/ linkimages/ 35. htm) on2007-10-08, , retrieved 2007-07-16.
[19] Zvelebil 1992, p. 12: "...the most acceptable periodisation which has so far been suggested for the development of Tamil writing seems tome to be that of A Chidambaranatha Chettiar (1907–1967): 1. Sangam Literature – 200BC to AD 200; 2. Post Sangam literature – AD 200 –AD 600; 3. Early Medieval literature – AD 600 to AD 1200; 4. Later Medieval literature – AD 1200 to AD 1800; 5. Pre-Modern literature –AD 1800 to 1900"
[20] "Scheduled Languages in Descending Order of Speakers' Strength" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20071130133941/ http:/ / www.censusindia. gov. in/ Census_Data_2001/ Census_Data_Online/ Language/ Statement4. htm). 2001 Census. Office of the Registrar Generaland Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. censusindia. gov. in/ Census_Data_2001/ Census_Data_Online/Language/ Statement4. htm) on 2007-11-30. . Retrieved 2008-11-01.
[21] "Lecture 7: World-Wide English" (http:/ / www. ehistling-pub. meotod. de/ 01_lec06. php). EHistLing. . Retrieved 2007-03-26.[22][22] Reinhold Wagnleitner, "Coca-colonization and the Cold War: the cultural mission of the United States in Austria after the Second World
War", p. 162[23] "The UPU: Languages" (http:/ / www. upu. int/ en/ the-upu/ languages. html). Universal Postal Union. . Retrieved 2012-01-04.[24] "Europeans and their languages – European commission special barometer FEB2006" (http:/ / ec. europa. eu/ public_opinion/ archives/ ebs/
ebs_243_en. pdf). . Retrieved 2010-01-05.[25] Henry Romanos Kahane. The Lingua Franca in the Levant (Turkish Nautical Terms of Italian and Greek Origin)[26] Lingua Franca (in Italian) (http:/ / www. uwm. edu/ ~corre/ franca/ edition3/ lingua5. html)[27] Barbour, Stephen; Cathie Carmichael (2000). Language and Nationalism in Europe (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=1ixmu8Iga7gC&
pg=PA194). Oxford UP. p. 194. ISBN 0-19-925085-5. .[28] "¿Por qué los brasileños deben aprender español?" (http:/ / www. quadernsdigitals. net/ index. php?accionMenu=secciones.
[29][29] Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 764.[30] "Abá nhe'enga oîebyr – Tradução: a língua dos índios está de volta", by Suzel Tunes (http:/ / www. nautilus. com. br/ ~ensjo/ tupi/
Article Sources and ContributorsList of lingua francas Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=535892988 Contributors: Abu Shawka, Acidophilusau, Ahmad Ayyash, Andreas Kaganov, Andrew Gwilliam,BD2412, Benlisquare, Chris the speller, Cmglee, CodeCat, Colonies Chris, Cuchullain, Dana boomer, Dentren, Francish7, GDibyendu, Ganesh24, Hmliaw, Hugo999, John K, John of Reading,Keizers, Kwamikagami, LarryJeff, MacedonianBoy, Mr. Stradivarius, Niceguyedc, Pikolas, Pras.kota, Qwyrxian, R'n'B, Rjwilmsi, Sevilledade, Sinekonata, Skinsmoke, Smim90, Sobanbabu.b,Soundofmusicals, StasMalyga, Tamfang, Teamjenn, Titodutta, Trijnstel, Wester, Wikikbe, Woohookitty, 45 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Learning Arabic calligraphy.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Learning_Arabic_calligraphy.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors:Aieman KhimjiFile:LetterFromKhubilaiToJapan1266.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:LetterFromKhubilaiToJapan1266.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: QubilaiQa'an/(transcribed by 東 大 寺 宗 性 Soushou (1202-1278)Todai-ji temple, Nara, Japan
