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lingua franca
lingua franca , an auxiliary language, generally of a hybrid and partially developed nature, that is employed over an extensive area by people speaking different and mutually unintelligible tongues in order to communicate with one another. Such a language frequently is used primarily for commercial purposes. Examples are the several varieties of the hybrid pidgin English (see pidgin ); Swahili, a native language of E Africa (see Swahili language ); Chinook jargon, a lingua franca formerly used in the American Northwest that was a mixture of Chinook, other Native American languages, English, and French; and a variety of Malay (called bazaar Malay ), which served as a compromise language in the area of British Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, and neighboring regions (see Malayo-Polynesian languages ). The original lingua franca was a tongue actually called Lingua Franca (or Sabir) that was employed for commerce in the Mediterranean area during the Middle Ages. Now extinct, it had Italian as its base with an admixture of words from Spanish, French, Greek, and Arabic. The designation "Lingua Franca" [language of the Franks] came about because the Arabs in the medieval period used to refer to Western Europeans in general as "Franks." 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.
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"lingua franca." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "lingua franca." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-linguafr.html "lingua franca." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-linguafr.html |
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LINGUA FRANCA
LINGUA FRANCA. [The plural is usually lingua francas, but sometimes Italian lingue franche and Latin linguae francae.]
1. Originally, a name for the mixed language, based on ITALIAN and Occitan (Southern French), used for trading and military purposes in the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages. See SABIR. 2. By extension, a semi-technical term for any additional (often compromise) language adopted by speakers of different languages, as a common medium of communication for any purposes and at any level. A lingua franca may be either a fullyfledged language (LATIN in the Roman Empire, Hausa at the present time in West Africa), or a PIDGIN or CREOLE (TOK PISIN in Papua New Guinea, KRIO in Sierra Leone). A language may become somewhat reduced if it is widespread as a lingua franca (SWAHILI in East Africa). FRENCH served widely in Europe as the lingua franca of diplomacy in the 18–19c, and English now serves as a lingua franca in many countries with linguistically diverse populations (such as India and Nigeria) and for many purposes (as with the restricted variety SEASPEAK, used by the world's merchant marine). See BUSINESS ENGLISH, LINGO, LINK LANGUAGE, POLARI. |
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TOM McARTHUR. "LINGUA FRANCA." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. TOM McARTHUR. "LINGUA FRANCA." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-LINGUAFRANCA.html TOM McARTHUR. "LINGUA FRANCA." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-LINGUAFRANCA.html |
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lingua franca
lin·gua fran·ca / ˈlinggwə ˈfrangkə/ • n. (pl. lin·gua fran·cas ) a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different. ∎ hist. a mixture of Italian with French, Greek, Arabic, and Spanish, formerly used in the Levant. |
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"lingua franca." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "lingua franca." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-linguafranca.html "lingua franca." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-linguafranca.html |
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Lingua Franca
Lingua Franca a mixture of Italian with French, Greek, Arabic, and Spanish, formerly used in the Levant; lingua franca now denotes a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.
Recorded from the late 17th century, the phrase comes from Italian, and means literally ‘Frankish tongue’. |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Lingua Franca." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Lingua Franca." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-LinguaFranca.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Lingua Franca." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-LinguaFranca.html |
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lingua franca
lingua franca Language that serves as a medium of communication between people who otherwise lack a common tongue. A lingua franca may be a simplified form of the language of the dominant power, such as Pidgin English, or it may be a hybrid, such as Swahili, which consists of words of both Arabic and Bantu origins.
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"lingua franca." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "lingua franca." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-linguafranca.html "lingua franca." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-linguafranca.html |
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lingua franca
lingua franca orig. mixed jargon based on Italian, used in the Levant. XVII. — It., ‘Frankish tongue’; see FRANK.
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T. F. HOAD. "lingua franca." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "lingua franca." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-linguafranca.html T. F. HOAD. "lingua franca." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-linguafranca.html |
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lingua franca
lingua franca •alpaca, attacker, backer, clacker, claqueur, cracker, Dhaka, hacker, Hakka, knacker, lacquer, maraca, paca, packer, sifaka, slacker, smacker, stacker, tacker, tracker, whacker, yakka
•Kafka
•anchor, banker, Bianca, canker, Casablanca, Costa Blanca, flanker, franker, hanker, lingua franca, Lubyanka, rancour (US rancor), ranker, Salamanca, spanker, Sri Lanka, tanka, tanker, up-anchor, wanker
•Alaska, lascar, Madagascar, Nebraska
•Kamchatka • linebacker • outbacker
•hijacker, skyjacker
•Schumacher • backpacker
•safecracker • wisecracker
•nutcracker • firecracker • ransacker
•scrimshanker • bushwhacker
•barker, haka, Kabaka, Lusaka, marker, moussaka, nosy parker, Oaxaca, Osaka, parka, Shaka, Zarqa
•asker, masker
•backmarker • waymarker
•Becker, checker, Cheka, chequer, Dekker, exchequer, Flecker, mecca, Neckar, Necker, pecker, Quebecker, Rebecca, Rijeka, trekker, weka, wrecker
•sepulchre (US sepulcher) • Cuenca
•burlesquer, Francesca, Wesker
•woodpecker
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"lingua franca." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "lingua franca." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-linguafranca.html "lingua franca." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-linguafranca.html |
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