68
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] PiraHxCx@lemmy.ml 0 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Then it's just a happy coincidence that it was the first world wide language used for diplomacy.

[-] MoonPatrol@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I'm pretty sure the first diplomatic language was Latin.

[-] gallopingsnail@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 days ago

It wasn't, the term lingua franca originates from the Mediterranean Lingua Franca, also known as Sabir, a pidgin language made up of bits from primarily romance languages (notably those of northern Italy) around the Mediterranean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Lingua_Franca

[-] PiraHxCx@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago

It was (the first world wide language used for diplomacy). If you want to quote Wikipedia, then:

"French is sometimes regarded as the first global lingua franca, having supplanted Latin as the prestige language of politics, trade, education, diplomacy, and military in early modern Europe and later spreading around the world with the establishment of the French colonial empire. With France emerging as the leading political, economic, and cultural power of Europe in the 16th century, the language was adopted by royal courts throughout the continent, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Russia, and as the language of communication between European academics, merchants, and diplomats."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_franca#French

Maybe sailors communicated with locals through a broken pidgin, but diplomats and aristocrats used French.

[-] gallopingsnail@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I mean, I would argue that trade is a form of diplomacy, but whatever. My source points to the first example known as a lingua franca, and shows that the phrase "lingua franca" has nothing to do with the French language; however I can acknowledge the wide acceptance of French as a lingua franca much after the times where Sabir was widely spoken. Anyways, I think that's enough arguing with strangers on the internet for me today.

this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2025
68 points (98.6% liked)

Asklemmy

50972 readers
579 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy ๐Ÿ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS