On a famous lacuna
Lingua Franca the Mediterranean trade pidgin
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20088063 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rachel Selbach (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Pages | 252-271 |
| Publication date | 2017-05-08 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Merchants of Innovation (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | De Gruyter (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/9781501503542-012 |
| OpenAlex | W2611133645 |
| ISBN | 9781501503542 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
Lingua Franca is one of the most famous historical codes of intercultural contact. It is widely regarded as the oldest known European trade pidgin, a Mediterranean contact language that breached the cultural, religious and linguistic divides of Muslims, Christians and Jews, from the Eastern to the Western shores, from the late Middle Ages to the mid-19th century. Its status as the universal language of Mediterranean trade is one of mythical proportions. In a volume on the language of merchants, Lingua Franca should surely claim a space. Yet, we find only a lacuna when searching for the evidence of Lingua Franca as a language of trade. Hence, this - somewhat negative - contribution on mercantile registers is not about trade documents. It is about their lack. We ask: was Lingua Franca really ever used for trade
Creole language · Language contact · Lingua franca · Linguistics · Pidgin · Political science · African history and culture studies · History · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2024 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |