This is a
list of lingua francas. A
lingua franca (English plural
lingua francas, although the pseudo-Latin form
linguae francae is also seen) is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a
first language, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both speakers' first languages. Examples of lingua francas are numerous, and exist on every continent. The most obvious modern example is
English, which is the current dominant lingua franca of international business, science, technology and aviation. There are many other lingua francas centralized on particular regions, such as
Arabic,
Chinese,
French,
Russian and
Spanish.