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A lingua franca (/ ˌ l ɪ ŋ ɡ w ə ˈ f r æ ŋ k ə /; lit. ' Frankish tongue '; for plurals see § Usage notes), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups of people who do not share a native language or dialect, particularly when ...
Nov 29, 2010 · When the United Kingdom became a colonial power, English served as the lingua franca of the colonies of the British Empire. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations which had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the lingua franca to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting any one ...
- English became the lingua franca around WWII, but it was already used all through the British Colonial Empire, establishing it in North America a...
- This is a difficult question to answer because so many of the terms are vague. Even the term "English" is mutable, as there are many dialects and v...
- I am very surprised that none of the answers has mentioned the obvious: English is simple . Speaking English at the basic level needed to order a...
- I agree with the other answers which emphasize: a) the British empire, and b) the dominance of the US in business/science in the post-WWII era. I m...
- Usually the nation with the biggest power spreads its culture and language. Take the Greeks or Romans for example, when they were in power, the wor...
- Not really related, but I couldn't resist: It's not that they're wicked or naturally bad It's knowing they're foreign that makes them so mad...
- The BBC News magazine has an article on " How English evolved into a global language " As the British Library charts the evolution of English in a...
Mar 28, 2024 · lingua franca, language used as a means of communication between populations speaking vernaculars that are not mutually intelligible. The term was first used during the Middle Ages to describe a French- and Italian-based jargon, or pidgin, that was developed by Crusaders and traders in the eastern Mediterranean and characterized by the invariant forms of its nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
Taking a look at the predecessors of English as a lingua franca (ELF), we will begin to explore and have an idea of how such a change comes about in the first place. And, more specifically, how we eventually got to English. Leading up to English: Lingua Francas of the Past Aramaic. Aramaic was the unifying language in the Persian Empire.
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In more modern times French is the western world's first lingua franca, owing to the prestige of France in the age of Louis XIV. During the 20th century its position is gradually usurped by English, as a result of the global spread of the British empire and the commercial dominance of the United States. English has by now penetrated more deeply ...
Nov 21, 2023 · English is a lingua franca of the world due to the global expansion of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries and the subsequent rise of the United States as a global power in the 20th ...
Apr 19, 2024 · English language, a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family that is closely related to the Frisian, German, and Dutch languages. It originated in England and is the dominant language of the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. It has become the world’s lingua franca.
