Lingua franca
Revision as of 19:42, 13 August 2007 by Linguipedia (talk | contribs) (New page: A '''lingua franca''' is a language that is used as a means of communication by people from different language communities. ===Term properties=== The plural is ''lingua francas'', or some...)
A lingua franca is a language that is used as a means of communication by people from different language communities.
Term properties
The plural is lingua francas, or sometimes lingue franche (using the Italian plural form).
Examples
French was used as a lingua franca of educated Europeans in the 17th and 18th century; Russian is used as a lingua franca in the Central Asian republics Uzbekistan, Tajiskistan, Turkmenistan, etc.; and English is used as a lingua franca for most global international events.
Origin
The term lingua franca derives from the name of a pidgin language (Lingua Franca) that was used as a means of interethnic communication in the Mediterranean region a few centuries ago.
Other languages
German Lingua Franca (de)
