What's the meaning of "lingua franca" ?

Question

I actually wants to know exactly what's lingua franca and what languages are categorized under it...

Answer 1

A lingua franca is any language widely used beyond the population of its native speakers. The de facto status of lingua franca is usually "awarded" by the masses to the language of the most influential nation(s) of the time. Any given language normally becomes a lingua franca primarily by being used for international commerce, but can be accepted in other cultural exchanges, especially diplomacy. 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.

The term "lingua franca" was originally used by Arabs to name all Romance languages, and especially Italian (Arabs used to name Franks all peoples in Western Europe). Then, it meant a language with a Romance lexicon (most of words derived from Italian and Spanish) and a very simple grammar, that till the end of XIX century was used by mariners in the Mediterranean Sea, particularly in Middle East and Northern Africa.

Answer 2

A lingua franca is a language used among people who are native speakers of different languages, but are not native speakers of that language. For example, if a German person wants to talk to a Japanese person, they might use English. Neither one of them is a native speaker of English, therefore English would be a lingua franca.

Answer 3

The French Language?

Answer 4

1.language used for convenience: a language or mixture of languages used for communication by people who speak different first languages. Also called koine
2. traders’ language in Mediterranean: the mixed language used chiefly by merchants throughout the Mediterranean ports until the 18th century, consisting mainly of Italian with elements of French, Spanish, Greek, Arabic, and Turkish

Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Answer 5

A language used as means of communication by people with different mother tongues, which all of them understand. English, pidgin English and French are examples.

Answer 6

italian language
lingua france means: open tongue