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Two thoughts come to mind. 1. At one time in human history, not long ago, it was mandatory to have some facility in at least a 2nd language to claim you had a
by lebuffon 5y ago
Two thoughts come to mind.
1. At one time in human history, not long ago, it was mandatory to have some facility in at least a 2nd language to claim you had a higher education. Partial mastery of a 2nd language would help native English speakers "get" what it's like for the non-native people and might help them adjust there speaking style. IMHO we have allowed "higher" education in English speaking countries to devolve in this regard.
2. We might be entering an era where English begins to morph into new dialects as did Latin when it was the "Lingua Franca" of the time. The 2nd language population will overwhelm the native English speakers and so control the language.
( "Lingua Franca" is probably one of those terms that one should not use internationally, unless you are in Italy, Spain, France, Portugal or Romania) :)
- xdennis 5y ago> "Lingua Franca" is probably one of those terms that one should not use internationally, unless you are in Italy, Spain, France, Portugal or Romania I'm not sure what you mean. Are you perhaps confusing lingua franca with romance language?
- lebuffon 5y agoI was implying that due to its Latin origin (?) it might be less familiar to non-native speakers.
- User23 5y ago“Lingua franca” is English[1]. [1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lingua-franca https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lingua-franca
- not_knuth 5y agoRegarding your second point, this might be of interest to you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English-based_pidgins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English-based_pidgins
- jogjayr 5y agoUntil today I thought "Lingua Franca" just meant "French language" and the usage of the phrase signified how commonplace French was in international diplomacy. Glad to learn something new.
- hnjst 5y ago"Lingua Franca" refers to an earlier period in history when French was the common language used across Europe, among the nobility in particular. You can read it as "common language for international communication" to understand why it's used to qualify the "globish" variant of English nowadays. Admittedly, using a latin expression literally describing French to mean English may be slightly confusing...
- bonoboTP 5y agoNo, that's a misconception. It doesn't refer to French. It's about the language of the Franks.
- hnjst 5y agoThanks for the correction, I was indeed wrong (parts of my comments were based on true facts but parts were clearly wrong, which is harmful). Honest mistake, I'm glad you spotted it so that I avoid propagating it in the future. To be dishonestly picky, French is somehow etymologically the "language of the Franks"... However, from what I just read, while "lingua franca" designates a vehicular language (which is the main thing to remember about the expression), it was originally used to refer to a simplified mix of languages (Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French among others). Thanks again, I guess I made long ago a lazy intellectual shortcut conflating my somehow credible explanation with the actual origin of the expression.