Lingua Franca

Language is a very strong communication tool but at the same time it can also become one of the greatest barriers to communication among people from different regions of the world. Within a wide geographical area, people may share a single common language although they speak different languages or dialects and this ensures that they are able to communicate on basic issues regarding everyday life and trade. Languages that bring together individuals that do not share a mother tongue are usually referred to as lingua franca. Other terms used to describe commonly understood languages include working, bridge, vehicular, or unifying. The term vehicular language refers directly to a language which is widely used as a basis of systematic communication between people from different communities and cultures and this is opposed to a vernacular language or dialect which is spoken by a relatively small group of people; for example, Greek is a vernacular language mainly spoken mainly in Greece and Cyprus. Strong examples of well established lingua francas of the past are Greek and Latin, while French and English have both been known as common languages at various points in history. French is, among others, the lingua franca of diplomatic meetings and conferences. Today, English is often used as a lingua franca of the technology and financial sectors but it could also be considered the de facto communication language for nearly every international activity. German is often the lingua franca in engineering fields.

Origins of the term "Lingua Franca"

The use of the term lingua franca originally came from the name of a particular example of this type of language, Mediterranean Lingua Franca. It was a mixed language composed mostly of Italian with the contribution of French, Greek, Arabic, Portuguese, Occitan and Spanish. It was mainly used throughout the eastern Mediterranean as a commerce and diplomacy language around the Renaissance era. Franca was the Italian word for Frankish and its usage in the term lingua franca originated from the fact that Arabs and Greeks, during the Middle Ages, used the term Franks (Franji) to refer to Western Europeans in Arabic and Phrankoi in Greek during the late Byzantine Period. According to The Douglas Harper Etymology Dictionary the term lingua franca was first recorded in English in the 1670s.

Lingua Franca vs Pidging languages

A lingua franca should not be confused with “pidgin languages” that are also treated, often, like a form of lingua franca and many times really function as such. Pidgin languages are designed to facilitate communication between radically different cultures. Pidgin is absolutely not the first language of a speaker, and it usually involves a blended use of words and concepts from at least two, and sometimes more, cultures. It is usually simple and clear; it may not be ideal for complex concepts or ideas but it is perfectly suitable for trade and basic negotiations. Numerous forms are used daily all over the world especially in ethnically diverse areas of the world. Pidgin and creole languages intensified toward the end of the nineteenth century and linguists (Gilbert, 1980; Slobin, 1977) suggest that the growth of the phenomenon can be mainly attributed to universal tendencies toward simplicity in situations involving language contact and language acquisition although there has been strong disagreement on the matter (Andersen, 1983; Muysken & Smith, 1986).

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