MediaFranca:About

From MediaFranca

MediaFranca is a derivation from lingua franca^[1]. Following the same line of meaning, MediaFranca is a design project that strives for the consolidation of a symmetrical conversational medium. The construction of this medium should be achieved by shaping tools for conviviality^[2]. This project takes advantage of information and communication technologies to augment the power of citizens in raising issues and consolidating groups of action around topics that they define.

also check: Thesis Project

Notes:

1. ↑

   A lingua franca is any language widely used beyond the population of its native speakers. The de facto status of lingua franca is usually "awarded" by the masses to the language of the most influential nation(s) of the time. Any given language normally becomes a lingua franca primarily by being used for international commerce, but can be accepted in other cultural exchanges, especially diplomacy. Occasionally the term "lingua franca" is applied to a fully established formal language; thus formerly it was said that French was the lingua franca of diplomacy.

   The term "lingua franca" was originally used by Arabs to name all Romance languages, and especially Italian (Arabs used the name 'Franks' for all peoples in Western Europe). Then, it meant a language with a Romance lexicon (most words derived from Latin which then evolved into early forms of Spanish and Italian) and a very simple grammar, that till the end of the 19th century was used by mariners in the Mediterranean Sea, particularly in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

   A synonym for lingua franca is “vehicular language.” Whereas a vernacular language is used as a native language in a single speaker community, a vehicular language goes beyond the boundaries of its original community, and is used as a second language for communication between communities. For example, English is a vernacular in England, but is used as a vehicular language (that is, a lingua franca), say, in India.

   From Wikipedia

2. ↑ Illich, Ivan (1973) Tools for Conviviality [1]