Lingua Franca | Definition, History & Examples

Lingua franca is an Italian term meaning 'Frankish tongue' referring to the Sabir language used by crusaders, traders, pirates, and slaves in the Mediterranean region from the 11th through the 19th centuries. The Sabir language was comprised of elements of several other languages spoken in the Mediterranean region using a simplified form of Italian, in which verbs did not have to be conjugated, and incorporated vocabulary from Spanish, French, Arabic, Greek, Turkish, and Berber languages. Sabir is a good example of how a pidgin, a language created by mixing elements of various languages, can serve as a lingua franca.

Trade routes across the Mediterranean Sea prompted the creation of lingua franca such as Sabir.

Before the term lingua franca was coined, people found ways to communicate despite speaking different languages. For example, Aramaic functioned as a lingua franca in Babylonia, Palestine, Syria, and Egypt from the seventh century BCE to the seventh century CE. Subsequently, throughout the centuries, many languages served as lingua francas in various regions of the world, including Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, Malay, Hausa, and English.