Lingua franca

A lingua franca [1] also called a bridge language, trade language, or vehicular language, is a language systematically (as opposed to occasionally, or casually) used to make communication possible between persons not sharing a native language, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both native languages.[2]

Lingua francas have arisen around the globe throughout human history, sometimes for commercial reasons (so-called "trade languages") but also for diplomatic and administrative convenience, and as a means of exchanging information between scientists and other scholars of different nationalities. The term originates with one such language, Mediterranean Lingua Franca.


  • Characteristics 1
  • Etymology 2
  • Examples 3
  • See also 4
  • References 5
  • Further reading 6
  • External links 7


Lingua franca is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic history or structure of the language:[3] though pidgins and creoles often function as lingua francas, many such languages are neither pidgins nor creoles.

Whereas a vernacular language is used as a native language in a single speaker community, a lingua franca goes beyond the boundaries of its original community, and is used as a second language for communication between groups. For example, English is a vernacular in the United Kingdom, but is used as a vehicular language (i.e., a lingua franca) in the Philippines.

International auxiliary languages such as Esperanto have not had a high level of adoption globally, so they cannot be described as global lingua francas, although they play this role in various contexts.


The term lingua franca, [8] As recently as the late 20th century, the use of the term was restricted by some to mean only hybrid languages that are used as bridge languages (owing to its original meaning), but today it refers to any bridge language.[9]


The use of lingua francas may be almost as old as language itself. Certainly they have existed since antiquity. Latin and Greek were the lingua francas of the Roman Empire; Akkadian, and then Aramaic, remained the common languages of a large part of Western Asia through several earlier empires.[10] Examples of lingua francas remain numerous, and exist on every continent. The most obvious example as of the early 21st century is English. There are many other lingua francas centralized on particular regions, such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swahili.

In certain countries the lingua franca is also used as the national language; e.g., Urdu is the lingua franca of Pakistan, as well as the national language.

See also


  1. ^
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Intro Sociolinguistics - Pidgin and Creole Languages: Origins and Relationships - Notes for LG102, - University of Essex, Prof. Peter L. Patrick - Week 11, Autumn term.
  4. ^ Lexico Triantaphyllide online dictionary , Greek Language Center (Kentro Hellenikes Glossas), lemma Franc ( Φράγκος Phrankos) , Lexico tes Neas Hellenikes Glossas, G.Babiniotes, Kentro Lexikologias(Legicology Center) LTD Publications , ISBN 960-86190-1-7, lemma Franc and (prefix) franco- (Φράγκος Phrankos and φράγκο- phranko-).
  5. ^ Ernest Weekley Etymology Dictionary (1921)
  6. ^ Eric Partridge Etymology Dictionary (1966)
  7. ^ Douglas Harper Etymology Dictionary (2001)
  8. ^ Morgan, J. (1632). A Compleat History of the Present Seat of War in Africa, Between the Spaniards and Algerines. p. 98. Retrieved June 8, 2013. 
  9. ^ Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, Simon and Schuster, 1980
  10. ^ Ostler, 2005 pp. 38-40

Further reading

  • Hall, R.A. Jr. (1966). Pidgin and Creole Languages, Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0173-9.
  • 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.
  • Melatti, Julio Cezar (1983). Índios do Brasil. São Paulo: Hucitec Press, 48th edition
  • Ostler, Nicholas (2005). Empires of the Word. London: Harper ISBN 978-0-00-711871-7

External links

  • English - the universal language on the Internet?
  • of professor Francesco Bruni (in Italian)Lingua franca del Mediterraneo o Sabir.
  • 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.