lingua franca
lingua franca — noun
1. a language that people with different native tongues use to talk to one another,
a language that people with different native tongues use to talk to one another, especially in trade, diplomacy, or other international contexts.
English serves as the lingua franca for air traffic control conversations worldwide.
collocation: serves as a lingua franca
In Mombasa, Swahili became the lingua franca among traders from different countries.
collocation: became the lingua franca among [group]
At the UN, diplomats rely on a few working languages as a lingua franca.
For the scientists at the Antarctic research station, English is the only common lingua franca.
Hindi serves as a lingua franca across northern India, where many local languages are spoken.
- common language
more everyday term, less academic; emphasises mutual intelligibility between groups
- shared language
stresses that the language belongs to no one native group but is used by all parties
- bridge language
metaphorical term that highlights the connecting role between different speech communities
- contact language
technical linguistic term for a language used when speakers of different languages interact
- language barrier
the communication problem that a lingua franca helps to overcome
用法筆記
Most commonly used in the singular form (a lingua franca). The plural lingua francas is accepted in modern English; the original Latin plural linguae francae is very rare and may sound overly academic.