is any language widely used beyond the population of its native speakers. The
is usually "awarded" by the masses to the language of the most influential nation(s) of the time. Any given language normally becomes a
primarily by being used for international commerce, but can be accepted in other cultural exchanges, especially
. Occasionally the term "lingua franca" is applied to a fully established formal language; thus formerly it was said that French was the lingua franca of diplomacy.
language goes beyond the boundaries of its original community, and is used as a second language for communication between communities. For example, English is a vernacular in England, but is used as a vehicular language (that is, a
), say, in India.
meant specifically for communication between speakers of different native languages. Examples include
.
Main article: Lingua franca of the Mediterranean Greek and Latin French was the language of
diplomacy in
Europe from the
17th century until its recent replacement by English, and as a result is still a working language of international institutions and is seen on documents ranging from passports to airmail letters. For many years, until the accession of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark in
1973, French and German were the only official working languages of the
European Economic Community.
French was also the language used among the educated in many cosmopolitan cities across the
Middle East and
North Africa. This was true in cities such as Cairo, around the turn of the century until
World War II, and especially in the French colonies of the
Maghreb. French is particularly important in
Algeria and its capital
Algiers. 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". French is still a lingua franca in most
Western and
Central African countries (where it often enjoys official status), a remnant of France's and
Belgium's colonial times. These African countries, together with several other countries throughout the world, are members of
La Francophonie.
French Spanish replaced
Latin as the language of diplomacy and (in some aspects) culture during the 16th and early 17th centuries, until it was replaced by French. Spanish was also used throughout portions of the former
Spanish Empire, particularly in
South America. Today, it is a lingua franca in Latin America (except for Brazil and the Guianas); and in
Equatorial Guinea, along with French.
Spanish German served as a
lingua franca in large portions of Europe, America and small parts of Asia, (Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan) during the 19th and 20th centuries in the sciences — particularly in
physics,
chemistry and
sociology — as well as in business and politics.
German was also spoken in much of Eastern Europe long after the end of
World War II. In some academic disciplines, most notably
philosophy and
theology, a reading knowledge of German is still considered essential and required of doctoral candidates by some universities all over the world, not just those in
Europe. During the construction of the Snowy Mountain River Scheme in Australia, German was the lingua franca for workers from central and east Europe.
German Polish was a kind of
lingua franca in various regions of
Eastern Europe, mostly due to the political and military influence of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Although
Russian language influence has almost completely substituted the Polish language during the 19th and 20th century, Polish is still sometimes spoken or at least understood in western border areas of
Ukraine,
Belarus and parts of northern Slovakia.
Polish 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),
Macau,
East Timor, and
South America because Brazil is the largest and most populous country in Latin America.
Portuguese 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. Recent migrations from the former Soviet Union made Russian one of the most spoken languages in Israel.
Russian English is the current
lingua franca of international business, science, and aviation, and has displaced French as the lingua franca of diplomacy since
World War I. It arguably was advanced by the role of English-speaking countries, in particular the
United States, as well as the
United Kingdom,
Canada, and
Australia in the aftermath of
World War II, particularly in the organization and procedure of the
United Nations. It was first and still is a
lingua franca of former
British Empire (including
India,
New Zealand,
Nigeria,
Singapore,
South Africa, and Vanuatu), present British territories (like
Bermuda,
Falkland Islands, and
Saint Helena), Hong Kong, U.S. territories (like
Guam,
Northern Marianas,
Puerto Rico),
Virgin Islands (both
British- and
American-owned), and
Philippines.
The modern trend to use English outside of English-speaking countries has a number of sources. Ultimately, the use of English in a variety of locations across the globe is a consequence of the reach of the British Empire. But the establishment of English as an international lingua franca after World War II was mostly a result of the spread of English via cultural and technological exports from the United States as well as its embedding in international institutions; for instance, the seating and roll-call order in sessions of the United Nations and its organs is determined by English alphabetical order, and, while there are six
official languages of the United Nations, only two (English and French) are
working languages, and, in practice, English is the sole working language of most UN bodies. With the United Nations regarded as the primary reference for procedure in international relations, English has come to dominate the proceedings of virtually all international interactions where the parties do not share another common language.
English is also regarded by some as the global
lingua franca owing to the economic hegemony of most of the developed Western nations in world financial and business institutions. The de facto status of English as the
lingua franca in these countries has carried over globally as a result.
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 Commission. Many Europeans outside of the EU have also adopted English as their current lingua franca. For example, English serves as a somewhat lingua franca in
Switzerland, which has four
official languages (German, French, Italian, plus
Romansch, spoken by a relatively small minority). German is also spoken by many Swiss citizens, but the relatively high foreign-born population (21% of residents) ensures a relatively wide use of English.
English In Asia, these are the most important lingua franca:
Asian languages 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 700 - 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 neighboring the Islamic Empire. 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 late 19th century) 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. Arabic remains as the lingua franca for 22 countries in the
Middle East and
North Africa.
Arabic 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.
Aramaic According to the Russian historian
Nikolai Trubetzkoy,
Azeri served as a
lingua franca throughout most parts of
Transcaucasia (except the
Black Sea coast), in
Eastern Anatolia,
Iranian Azerbaijan, and Southern
Dagestan.
Azeri Cebuano is the lingua franca of
Cebu,
Bohol,
Negros Oriental,
Leyte,
Samar, and most of
Mindanao in The
Philippines.
Cebuano 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. In the early 20th century Classical Chinese in China was replaced by
modern written Standard Chinese. 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 Chinese and other ethnic groups in
China.
Written Chinese has also been used as a way of communication through these character-using countries. Chinese is also a
lingua franca of
Hong Kong,
Macau, and
Singapore.
Chinese Further information: Filipino language Filipino, a standardized variety of
Tagalog, serves as a
lingua franca throughout the
Philippines archipelago together with some
Spanish words and
English language. In the southern regions though, the
Cebuano Dialect and
English Language is more used as a
lingua franca than Filipino.
Filipino 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 and lingua franca of
India, and
Urdu is the official language and lingua franca of
Pakistan.
Urdu is also an official language in
India.
Hindi - Urdu Ilokano is natively spoken in
Ilocos Region, northwest Philippines.
Ilokanos migrated to
Batanes, Cordillera,
Cagayan Valley, and
Pangasinan until it is now the lingua franca of northern Philippines.
Ilokano In the
14th century, during the
Malacca Sultanate,
Malay (
Bahasa Melayu) 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 and
Brunei, as well as - but to a lesser extent in -
Singapore.
However,
Indonesian (
Bahasa Indonesia), a standardized variety of
Malay, serves as a
lingua franca throughout
Indonesia. While Indonesia counts several hundred different languages, Indonesian, the official language of Indonesia, is their vehicular language.
Malay and Indonesian Further information: Persian language Persian served as the lingua franca of the eastern Islamic world and became the second lingua franca of the Islamic World. 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 and
Pakistan.
Persian Further information: Sanskrit Sanskrit is the lingua franca of the
Dharmic religions. Sanskrit was widely used across
South Asia,
Southeast Asia,
East Asia and
Central Asia at various times in
ancient and
medieval history.
Sanskrit Tetum, official language of
East Timor, is a lingua franca of
Timor island.
Tetum African languages Hausa is widely spoken through Nigeria and Niger and recognised in neighbouring states (
Ghana,
Benin,
Cameroon etc). 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.
Hausa 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.
Swahili 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.
Zulu 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.
Fula 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
Cote 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.
Manding 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 2 countries.
Wolof Amerindian languages 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. 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.
Tupi As the
Inca empire rose to prominence in
South America, the imperial language
Quechua 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.
Quechua 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.
Pidgin 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.
Tok Pisin Bislama is used in
Vanuatu. It is one of the local varieties of the English-based
Melanesian Pidgin that developed throughout
Melanesia during the 19th century.
Bislama Guinea-Bissau Creole is a
Portuguese Creole as a
lingua franca of
Guinea-Bissau and
Casamance,
Senegal.
Guinea-Bissau Creole Cape Verdean Creole is also a Portuguese Creole as a
lingua franca of
Cape Verde, although Portuguese, the official langauge of the country, is widely spoken.
Cape Verdean Creole Chavacano is a
Spanish Creole as a lingua franca of
Zamboanga Peninsula,
Basilan,
North Cotabato,
Davao City, and
Semporna,
Sabah,
Malaysia.
Notes 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 edition
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