Why You Need a Foreign Language & How to Learn One

Chapter 4 (Excerpt)

how lingua francas become lingua francas

The following rule has been demonstrated again and again throughout the linguistic history of the world: If your society possesses disproportionate cultural, military, or economic strength, then your language will achieve dominance over neighboring languages. A language does not succeed because of its own qualities; a language becomes dominant because the people who speak it have been extraordinarily successful.

            This chapter examines the processes by which a handful of major languages ascended to lingua franca status. We will also take a look at the empires, kings, and peoples who gave these languages their power.

THE RISE OF ARAMAIC

Many readers will remember Aramaic from Mel Gibson's 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ. Aramaic was the primary language of New Testament-era Palestine, and much of the Middle East. Aramaic's star has since fallen. Less than a million people speak the language today; and most of them live in areas that current geopolitics have made unsuitable for Western travelers: Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and a few other corners of the Middle East. Aramaic exists in the twenty-first century mostly in the form of Syriac—a minority tongue that is used primarily for liturgical purposes. 

Aramaic has its roots in distant Mesopotamia, the so-called "cradle of civilization" between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern-day Iraq. It became the dominant language in Mesopotamia after supplanting two earlier languages, Sumerian and Akkadian, which subsequently passed into history. 

Aramaic, like Arabic and Hebrew, is a Semitic language. Unlike Sumerian and Akkadian, which were written in cuneiform symbols, Aramaic looks vaguely "modern," if a bit exotic.  Aramaic script closely resembles the written form of modern Arabic.

The Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Persians

In its heyday, Aramaic had influential sponsors. The Aramaic language was propelled to world-class status by three ancient powers: Assyria, Persia, and Babylonia. Each of these three nations played a role in making Aramaic the language of New Testament-era Palestine..........

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