lingua

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This entails programs to promote standard Chinese as the national lingua franca, instill pride in Chinese cultural heritage and exert stronger central control over regions with large ethnic-minority populations such as Tibet and Xinjiang.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

His Russian has improved in prison, where it is a lingua franca among the inmates.

From Barron's • Jan. 30, 2026

Today I live in Taiwan, where Mandarin Chinese is the lingua franca, and fixtures of the California accent have attached itself to my Chinese.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2023

While Mandarin Chinese is the lingua franca here in Taiwan, there are some dishes in Taiwan that are known exclusively by their Taiwanese Hokkien names.

From Salon • Sep. 2, 2023

The songs and sounds they’ve absorbed are part of western musical style, and are now part of the musical lingua franca or the music that is “normal” for them.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin