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50. Lingua Franca 371

50. Lingua Franca

1. Definition diversified personnel (due to the use of slaves, 2. Spheres of Use mercenaries, and enforced subjects - a com­ 3. Typology mon phenomenon until the modern era) or 4. Lingua Franca and Structure when the conquerors must administer a lin­ 5. Lingua Franca and Language Change 6. Literature (selected) guistically heterogeneous area. (earlier known as Hindustani), linguistically undiffer­ entiated from , probably owes its role 1. Definition to this process in India; another example is , based on Lobangi, which was spread It is on the basis of function alone that a as a result of the occupation by the language is considered to be a lingua franca, of what is now Zaire. Rausa in , by which term is designated any lingual me­ Swahili in East Africa, and Malay in the East dium of communication between people of Indian Archipelago are examples of lan­ different mother tongues, for whom it is a guages spread by commerce; but trade has . Applicable to all situations not been wholly free of conquest and even where linguistic communication is difficult or enslavement. The religious diffusion of lingua impossible, it applies as well to areas charac­ francas is illustrated by all the major religions terized by extreme differences as to (e. g. , , Pali); and in the modern those with different in the normal period local languages have been adopted in sense. Any form of language can be used missionary work (Bulu by the Presbyterians with this purpose. Natural languages spoken in the Cameroun; Kate, Guraget, and Ku­ beyond their native boundaries are the best­ anua by Lutherans in New Guinea). known examples, but have spread in Neither number of speakers, manner and the same manner. Examples of the latter are mode of use, nor quality of comprehension Fijian, based on the Bauan dialect, and Yaw­ are defining characteristics of a lingua franca; elmani, the latter used amongst speakers of but all these factors determine the social and Yokuts on the Tule River Reservation in Cali­ linguistic consequences of its use. Similarly, fornia. Such languages of common inter­ a language or dialect acquired as a second course become established informally, as in language by other speakers does not thereby any instance of second-language acquisition, become automatically a lingua franca, but or formally in some context of education. only when the latter linguistically diversified In the latter case the languages are usually populations use this second language written, exemplified by Latin, a vital lingua amongst themselves (illustrated by the use of franca up to the end of the , and Djula in the ). Widespread use Arabic throughout the Islamicized world to may lead to the adoption of the lingua franca this very day. Writing as well as specialized as , which is an example of function may also have been responsible for , or to the reduction of inter­ the longevity for as a common me­ ethnic bilingualism and eventual death of dium of intercommunication in the Near competing languages. (Speakers of closely East, from at least the 6th century B. C. related Gbaya languages in the have been observed using 2. Spheres of Use Sango rather than their mother tongues.) Languag~s and dialects have their spheres of use extended as a consequence of a variety 3. Typology of social phenomena. Some of these are con­ quest, colonization, migration, trade, com­ Lingua francas have not been systematicaly merce, and religion; in the case of the Tukano, typologized with respect to specialized an ethnic language (i. e. ), in the functions, since no such typology of functions Northwest Amazon basin, the means may yet exists (cf. art. 35, 73). Nonetheless, a have been marital alliances in addition to number of terms have had a certain currency; other factors. Conquest creates the need for the following are just a sample. For nonspeci­ an instrument of communication when the fied functions of more-or-less brief duration military force is made up of linguistically or intensity there are contact language, con- 372 III. Basics III: Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts

tact vernacular, marginal language, auxiliary ble, are similar to processes undertaken in language, and in French langue d'appoint. nationalist movements for the creation of (The designation 'contact' also avoids the standardized languages. As with all conscious pejorative implications of such terms as pid­ attempts to influence the form and use of gin and jargon.) The only specialized function language, this phenomenon is associated with that has attracted nomenclatural activity is first of all, as well as with the dissemi­ trade: hence, trade language, trade jargon, ba­ nation of ideas with modern technology. zaar X (as in 'bazaar Hindi'), and in German It is not true that lingua francas are neces­ Verkehrssprache. Vehicular language (from sarily based on languages of a social group French langue vehiculaire ), is synonymous in a dominant position with respect to others. with lingua franca, although the francophone Although this has been true in the histories of meaning includes any language of education. several lingua francas, the histories of others Similarly, international language and world have had very different social parameters. language apply to lingua francas originating Sango and Lingala are indigenous lingua in the standard languages of politically and francas that arose as labor languages at the economically dominant nations, contrast­ end of the 19th century when European co­ ing - according to context - with vernacu­ lonizers brought with them an extremely lar or tribal language: hence the ethnocentric polyglot foreign work force; the slaves who meaning 'language of civilization.' built the pyramids may also have created A standard language (cf. art. 44) in a mod­ their own means of communication. ern political state (such as Russian in the ethnolinguistically diverse and 4. Lingua Franca and Language standard Japanese in a nation with dialects Structure so diverse that some of them are mutually unintelligible) is no less a lingua franca than Since lingua franca indicates an aspect of the any other for its being the official instrument use of any language, it suggests nothing about of communication and education, and it re­ the structure of that language. This applies tains this function until the disappearance to any language with a specialized use: any of competing languages. Indeed, the goal of language can be a contact or trade language, complex societies is to achieve de facto mo­ for example. However, the nature of contact noglottism by language planning. At the and trade can lead to different kinds of lin­ other end of the scale (micro- as opposed to guistic consequences; there was a great differ­ macro-sociolinguistic), a third language used ence between the socially restrictive and al­ by two persons on only one occasion or ha­ most ritual trade in the 19th century along bitually (as in ethnolinguistically mixed mar­ the New Guinea coast that led to Hiri (i.e. riages) is also a lingua franca for those speak­ 'trade') Motu and the fur trade in Canada ers. It is only because the term is primarily a during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. technical one that it is considered inappropri­ Thus, in the emergence of a lingua franca, a ate: in this case the speakers may be said to language can become pidginized (cf. art. 46, have a common language. 59, 82), which is one of the aspects oflinguis­ A special case of language planning is the tic adaptation when communication is creation of planned (therefore, artificial) severely put to test. In such circumstances a auxiliary languages (cf. art. 49), such as Es­ jargon (cf. art. 43) may emerge (an unstable peranto. (The expression 'the local Esper­ and highly idiosyncratic form of speech), like anto' is metaphoric and parallels the history the one called 'Scandinavian' or 'Baltic' used of the use of lingua franca as a functional by seamen on the Baltic Sea until World War designation. Volapuk, another such created II. The term is used with pejorative connota­ language, has been used generically, and fre­ tions and in some circumstances is synony­ quently pejoratively, of various forms of pid­ mous with lingo, which itself may also desig­ ginized lingua francas.) Another kind of de­ nate foreigner talk. Trade jargon therefore im­ liberate action in sociolinguistic affairs is the plies pidginization, but trade language does attempt to create a union language by amalga­ not. (One can give a linguistic example of a mating material from several dialects (cf. art. pidgin, jargon, or lingo, but not of a lingua 80, 165), with one a base, into one idiom franca. For the latter, one can only cite an more-or-less accessible to most speakers. act - an instance of use.) 'Jargon' persists in Such attempts, undertaken mostly by those some language names (e. g. , providing people with of the Bi- which emerged during the complex period of 50. Lingua Franca 373 contact between Indians and Europeans, on time - millennia ago - when large speech the one hand, and between Indians, on the communities began to influence smaller ones, other, in the North American North West), and they will continue to emerge as human where pidgin would be more appropriate. beings adapt to changing social and linguistic , not by their structure but by their situations. Modern technology, which makes function, are by definition lingua francas. possible, for example, simultaneous transla­ When they become native languages, they are tion of conferences and dubbing in films, will called creoles. The sociolinguistic circum­ not eliminate lingua francas. Indeed, modern stances that lead to the emergence of pidgins needs have created some nonlinguistic ones, causes them to have the characteristics of such as the international safety symbols, but mixed, hybrid, or compromise languages, but some of the earliest writing systems may have all lingua francas are vulnerable to linguistic been ideographic lingua francas, and the writ­ influence and change. ing of is to this day an ideo­ graphic 'lingua franca' (cf. art. 140). The sign 5. Lingua Franca and Language language attributed to the Plains Indians in Change North America may have emerged in the earliest period of the trade generated by Since the existence of a lingua franca is a Europeans. function of bilingualism, the consequences As a technical term, lingua franca owes it for the speech community which it creates existence to the Lingua Franca (also known can be substantial - even eclipsing. For ex­ as sabir) that was used in the Mediterranean ample, a lingua franca can replace indigenous basin in the 17th century (if not earlier) and languages. And when it experiences change - up to the end of the 19th. Said to have been because of having been spoken for centuries a , including elements from as a second language - it can alter patterns Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Tur­ of language distribution and pose problems kish, Greek, and Persian, it seems to have for determining language relationships. Thus, been based in its earliest history on some if the historical forms of English were to Italian dialect or dialects. Given the uncer­ disappear, leaving only the 'colonial' varieties tainty of its genealogy, the plural forms (viz. Krio, African Pidgin English, , linguae francae and lingue franche must be etc.), the genetic relations of the latter would considered affectations. be problematic indeed. It is reasonable to hypothesize that the 'simplified' forms of cer­ tain contemporary languages result from lingua francas of the past - from pidginiza­ 6. Literature (selected) tion, not necessarily from pidgins. What happens to languages that serve as Chew, John J. (1981) "The relationship between lingua francas can happen to dialects used Japanese, Korean, and the Altaic languages: in for the same purpose: some of their peculiar­ what sense genetic?" in: Bulletin of the International Institute for Linguistic Sciences (Kyoto) 4, 7-38. ities are 'levelled' and they borrow exten­ sively. In this process there emerges a koine Cooper, Robert L., ed., (1982) Language spread: (German Gemeinsprache, also used of lingua studies in diffusion and culture change. Bloom­ franca), a form of speech for which it is ington. difficult if not impossible in the long run to Heine, Bernd (1968) Afrikanische Verkehrsspra­ sort out regionalisms and borrowings. Owing chen, Koln. its name to the Greek lingua franca dating from the 3rd century B. C. the term can be Milner, G. B. (1963) "Notes on the comparison of applied to the forms of standard languages, two languages (with and without a genetic hypoth­ esis)", in: Linguistic comparison in Southeast Asia such as English and German, that have and the Pacific, Shorto, H. L., ed., London, 28- emerged since the Middle Ages. The various 44. dialects of Norwegian and Italian that came to North America in the recent past could Newman, Stanley S. (1946) "The Yawelmani also have produced new languages if the dialect of Yokuts", in: Linguistic structures of socio-cultural circumstances had been dif­ Native America, Osgood, C., ed., New York, 222- ferent. 248. Lingua francas have undoubtedly charac­ Reinecke, John E. ( [1938] 1964) "Trade jargons terized the history of human beings since the and creole dialects as marginal languages", in: Lan- 374 III. Basics III: Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts

guage in culture and society, Hymes, D., ed., New Thurston, William R. (1982) A comparative study York, 534-542. in Anem and Lusi, Canberra. Samarin, William J. (1962) "Lingua francas, with Whinnom, Keith (1977) "The context and origins special reference to Africa", in: Study of the role of oflingua franca", in: Languages in contact: pidgins­ second languages in Africa, and Latin America, creates, Meisel, M., ed., Tiibingen, 3 ...:.18. Rice, F. A., ed., Washington, D.C., 54-64. Samarin, William J. (1982) "Colonization and pid­ ginization on the Ubangi River", in: Journal of William J. Samarin, Toronto African Languages and 4, 1-42. (Canada)

51. Elaborated and Restricted Codes

1. Introduction of digression; persons were mentioned who 2. The Codes were unknown to the interviewer. Lower­ 3. Assessments of the Codes class respondents appeared to assume that 4. Persistence of the Codes the interviewer shared contextual informa­ 5. Conclusions 6. Literature (selected) tion, and their communications suffered be­ cause of this. The authors baldly stated that such informants "literally cannot tell a 1. Introduction straight story or describe a simple incident Basil Bernstein's work on class and linguistic coherently" (336). Middle-class interviewees, codes (cf. art. 68) has been extremely influen­ on the other hand, were seen to reconstruct tial in sociological and educational circles. events in logical and meaningful ways. However, his theoretical stance has not al­ ways been completely clear. In his earlier 2. The Codes work, Bernstein appeared to support the so­ called "deficit" view of lower-class speech, It was from this background that Bernstein but more recently he has been careful to note began his work on class and codes. In two that this is not the import of his studies. early papers, he introduced the terms "pub­ He points out himself (1971) that his initial lic" and "formal language." The former was studies were obscure, ambiguous and concep­ characterised by its emphasis upon "the emo­ tually weak. Whether through ambiguity or tive rather than the logical implications" of misinterpretation, it is fair to say that Bern­ language (1958, 164). Ten attributes of public stein's codes have been associated with a defi­ language were then provided (1959, 311): cit approach. short, simple and often incomplete sentences In one of his early papers, Bernstein (1959) with poor syntax; simple and repetitive use alluded to the work of Schatzman and of conjunctions; frequent use of commands Strauss (1955). Their investigation of class and questions; rigid and limited use of adjec­ differences in speech was one of the first tives and adverbs; infrequent use of imper­ systematic studies here (perhaps the first: see sonal pronouns; statements in the form of Dittmar, [1973] 1976, 4, and Robinson, 1972, implicit questions (e. g., "It's only natural, 150, who also mentions a "neglected" work isn't it?''); frequent use of categoric state­ by Fries, 1940, on class and language). ments (e. g., "Do as I tell you"); frequent use Schatzman and Strauss interviewed lower­ of idiomatic phrases; low-order symbolism; and uppermiddle-class people in Arkansas much implicit meaning. Users of public lan­ who had witnessed a tornado. The lower­ guage were thus seen to have few syntactic class respondents were found to transmit and lexical alternatives, and to be restricted to much less information about this frightening concrete, non-symbolic expression in which event than were those of the middle class. much is taken for granted (i. e., is implicit; There was little attempt to "set the scene" cf. Schatzman/Strauss). and respondents did little more than recon­ While public language was seen to be avail­ struct the event in personal, particular and able to both lower and middle classes, the concrete terms. There was also a great deal latter also have access to formal language.