A lingua franca (or working language, bridge language, vehicular language) is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.^[1]

Characteristics[link]

"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic history or structure of the language:^[2] though pidgins and creoles often function as lingua francas, many such languages are neither pidgins nor creoles. Whereas a vernacular language is used as a native language in a single speaker community, a lingua franca 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 the United Kingdom, but is used as a vehicular language (that is, a lingua franca) in the Philippines.

International auxiliary languages such as Esperanto have historically had such a low level of adoption and use that they can only be described as potential rather than functioning lingua francas.

Etymology[link]

The original Lingua Franca was a mixed language composed mostly (80%) of Italian with a broad vocabulary drawn from Turkish, French, Greek, Arabic, Portuguese and Spanish. It was in use throughout the eastern Mediterranean as the language of commerce and diplomacy in and around the Renaissance era. At that time, Italian speakers dominated seaborne commerce in the port cities of the Ottoman empire. Franca was the Italian word for Frankish. Its usage in the term lingua franca originated from its meaning in Arabic and Greek, dating from before the Crusades and during the Middle Ages, whereby all Western Europeans were called "Franks" or Faranji in Arabic and Phrankoi in Greek during the times of the late Eastern Roman Empire.^[3] The term lingua franca is first recorded in English in 1678.^[4]

Examples[link]

Examples of lingua francas are numerous, and exist on every continent. The most obvious example today is English. There are many other lingua francas centralized on particular regions, such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, French and Spanish.

The popularity of languages changes over time, and there are many lingua francas that are of historical importance. For example, French was the language of European diplomacy from the 17th century until the mid-20th century. Until the early 20th century, Classical Chinese served as both the written lingua franca and the diplomatic language in Far East Asia including China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, the Ryūkyū Kingdom, and Vietnam. Arabic became the "lingua franca" of the Arab/Islamic Empire (from CE 733 – 1492), which at a certain point spread from the borders of China and Northern India through Central Asia, Persia, Asia Minor, Middle East, North Africa all the way to Spain and Portugal in the west.

See also[link]

• Esperanto
• International auxiliary language
• International English
• Koine Greek
• Language contact
• Mixed language
• Mutual intelligibility
• Universal language
• Vulgar Latin
• World language

• List of languages by number of native speakers

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Heine, Bernd (1970). Status and Use of African Lingua Francas. ISBN 3-8039-0033-6
• Kahane, Henry Romanos (1958). The Lingua Franca in the Levant.
• R. A. Hall, Jr. (1966). Pidgin and Creole Languages, Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0173-9.
• MELATTI, Julio Cezar (1983). Índios do Brasil. São Paulo:Hucitec Press, 48th edition

External links[link]

Look up lingua franca in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• English - the universal language on the Internet?
• Lingua franca del Mediterraneo o Sabir of professor Francesco Bruni (in Italian).
• Sample texts from Juan del Encina, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Carlo Goldoni's L'Impresario da Smyrna, Diego de Haedo and other sources.
• An introduction to the original Mediterranean Lingua Franca.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007)

Franca
Skyline of Franca
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Capital do calçado, Cidade das três colinas and "Capital do Basquete" ("Footwear capital", "Three hills city and" "Basketball capital")
Motto: "Gentile Meae Paulistae Fidelis"  (Latin) "Faithful to my herd of São Paulo"
Location in São Paulo state.
Coordinates: 20°32′19″S 47°24′3″W / 20.53861°S 47.40083°W / -20.53861; -47.40083Coordinates: 20°32′19″S 47°24′3″W / 20.53861°S 47.40083°W / -20.53861; -47.40083
Country	Brazil
Region	Southeast
State	São Paulo
Government
• Mayor	Sidnei Franco da Rocha (PSDB)
Area
• City	607.333 km2 (234.493 sq mi)
• Metro	3,439.78 km2 (1,328.11 sq mi)
Elevation	1,040 m (3,410 ft)
Population (2008)
• City	327,176
• Density	538.70/km2 (1,395.2/sq mi)
• Metro	471,383
• Metro density	137.03/km2 (354.9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-3 (UTC-3)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-2 (UTC-2)
HDI (2006)	0.820 – high
Website	[2]

Franca is a large city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, located at 20º32'19"S; 47º24'03'W at 1040 m altitude, founded in 1805 ^[1]. Estimated population in 2008 was 327,176 inhabitants. Franca is the municipal seat of Franca municipality.

History[link]

The history of the region of Franca begins at the time of the Bandeirantes explorers. The bandeira or entrada of Anhangüera (the son) in 1722 established the “way of Goiás,” a trail from São Paulo to the gold mines in Goiás. Along this and other trails settlements were made, becoming the so-called "landings" or way-stations for the gold seekers. Franca was known at the time of the Bandeirantes as the “catfish landing.”

At the end of the 18th century, settlers had dispersed into the region in several of these landings. In 1779, around 1000 people lived in the area around Franca . To better organize the settlement, a Decree Company was created and the Portuguese Captain Manoel de Almeida was put in charge. At the beginning of the 19th century, the sons of Manoel de Almeida (Antonio Antunes de Almeida and Vicente Ferreira de Almeida) donated lands for the construction of a chapel, which in turn was blessed by the priest Joaquin Martins Rodrigues. With the decline of mining activity in Minas Gerais and Goiás, more settlers migrated to the "Belo Sertão do Rio Pardo" (beautiful valley of the Pardo River), under the sponsorship of the governador of São Paulo, Antônio José de Franca e Horta, after whom the city and municipality are named.

In 1816 the "village of Franca" was officially founded by King João VI. In 1821, Minas Gerais attempted to annex the region, but due to local resistance, the attempt failed. The city motto stems from this time. The city's name was changed to "Vila Franca do Imperador", but it was shortened afterwards to "Franca".

With the expansion of coffee plantations throughout northeastern São Paulo state, many immigrants, mainly Italian, arrived in Franca. From the knowledge and hard work of these immigrants, the city's first industry, shoe manufacturing, was developed in the 1920s.

Franca took part in the Constitutional Revolution of 1932, in which six of her citizens died for São Paulo.

The city is now distinguished as an important center for the Brazilian footwear industry, although coffee continues today as one of the main sources of the city's revenues.

Geography[link]

Franca is located in the northeastern region of the state of São Paulo. It is the center of the state's 14th administrative region. The municipality of Franca borders Batatais, Cristais Paulista, and Patrocínio Paulista in São Paulo state, and Ibiraci and Claraval in Minas Gerais state. The climate of the city is subtropical highland (Cwb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with dry winters and wet summers, with rains from October to March. The temperatures are mild throughout the year. In hydrography, Franca is in the Canoas River basin, and this river provides the water supply of the city.

Franca has a considerably high terrain, with an altitude of about 1,040 m above sea level. Local soils are sandy, and the vegetation is dominated by grasslands. Forests are restricted to hilly slopes.

Temperatures[link]

Demography[link]

• Total: 328.473 inhabitants on July 1, 2006.
  • Urban: 324.138
  • Rural: 6.999
• Demographic density (hab./km²): 473,80
• Child mortality until 1 year (in 1000): 12,66 = 1,26%
• Life expectancy (years): 73,03
• Fertility (children per women): 2,26
• Literacy: 96,37%
• HDI : 0,820
  • HDI-M Income: 0,755
  • HDI-M Longevity: 0,800
  • HDI-M Education: 0,906

(Source: IPEA DATA)

Hidrography[link]

• Rio das Canoas
• Rio Pouso Alegre
• Rio São João
• Ribeirão Salgado

Roads[link]

• SP-334 - Candido Portinari, (Franca to Ribeirão Preto)
• SP-345 - Engenheiro Ronan Rocha, (Franca to Minas Gerais)
• SP-345 - Prefeito Fábio Talarico, (Franca to Barretos)

Minor highways[link]

• - Felipe Calixto (north quarter to Ribeirão Corrente)
• - João Traficante (east quarter to Ibiraci/MG)
• - Engenho Queimado (west quarter to Ribeirão Corrente)
• - Nestor Ferreira (west quarter to Restinga)
• - Rio Negro e Solimões (south quarter to Batatais)
• - Tancredo Neves (east quarter to Claraval/MG)

Government[link]

Mayor Sidnei Rocha (of the PSDB party) was elected in October 2004 and took office on January 1, 2005. His term is four years, and he is in office for the second time. The City Council is composed of 15 aldermen.

Notable Francanos[link]

• Regina Duarte, Brazilian television actress
• Abdias do Nascimento - scholar, artist, and politician.
• João do Amaral Gurgel - Brazilian businessman

References[link]

External links[link]

• Reviewed Franca
• Francasite - town portal - official website - virtual guide
• Franca View - Guide digital of Franca
• Municipal Government website

Robin Caspar Walker^[1] (born 12 April 1978) is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Worcester constituency. He was selected for the seat in August 2006.

His father was Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, who was MP for Worcester from 1961 to 1992.

Education[link]

Walker was educated at St. Paul's School in Barnes, West London, followed by a scholarship to Balliol College at the University of Oxford in Oxford, where he read Ancient and Modern History.

Life and career[link]

Walker has campaigned in three elections, working for Worcester man and then Secretary of State for Health, Stephen Dorrell in 1997, for Richard Adams, the Conservative Candidate for Worcester in 2001 and as press officer for Oliver Letwin, then Shadow Chancellor, in 2005.

He set up his own internet business on leaving university. More recently he has pursued a successful career in the City of London with the financial communications company, Finsbury Group, advising the Chief Executives and Finance Directors of some of the country's leading industrial companies on their communications with the press and the financial community.

Robin is a long-term supporter of both Worcester RFC "The Worcester Warriors" and the Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Indeed, he wore the Worcestershire CCC tie whilst delivering his maiden parliamentary speech in the House of Commons.

In 2010 he defeated incumbent MP Mike Foster to win the Worcester seat, eighteen years after his father retired as a Member of Parliament and joined the House of Lords.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Worcester Conservatives

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

Pete Tong
Pete Tong at Glastonbury in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Peter Tong
Born	(1960-07-31) July 31, 1960 (age 51) Dartford, Kent, England
Genres	Electronica, Balearic beat, house
Occupations	Disc jockey, music producer
Website	petetong.com

Peter "Pete" Tong (born July 30, 1960) is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as Essential Mix and Essential Selection on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for his record label FFRR Records, and for his own performances at nightclubs and music festivals. Tong has worked as a record producer and is known by the nickname of Lord of the Dance.

The phrase "It's all gone Pete Tong", where the name is used as rhyming slang for "wrong", was reputedly first coined by Paul Oakenfold in late 1987 in an article about acid house called "Bermondsey Goes Balearic" for Terry Farley and Pete Heller's Boys Own fanzine. It's All Gone Pete Tong is also the title of a 2004 film which portrays a fictional DJ's experiences as he realizes he is becoming deaf. Tong appears briefly in the film. It is also the name Tong has adopted for his club night at the nightclub Pacha in Ibiza.

In 2008 he was involved with the founding of the International Music Summit in Ibiza.

Early years[link]

Pete Tong was born in Dartford, Kent in July 1960 and was educated at King's School, Rochester, Kent.

Tong's original musical interest was in drumming, but he soon moved on to DJing. He played his first public gig at a friend's wedding at age 15. While at school he and a couple of friends earned some extra money by promoting a couple of local bands, booking halls for gigs etc. He also worked as part of the Kent "Soul Mafia" bringing soul weekenders to seaside towns like Caister-on-Sea and Prestatyn. Tong was heavily influenced by the late DJ Froggy in his early years and most of Tong's success is down to Froggy's originality in style of record mixing presentation.

Initially after leaving school he set up a mobile disco based in a transit van, but he soon started his own club in Baker Street called Family Function. He also booked bands for an alternative night, the first of which was the then unknown Culture Club. Later he became DJ/Promoter at the Kings Lodge club in West Kingsdown and quickly gained a faithful following, who were prepared to travel from far and wide on a Wednesday night to hear him playing underground Jazz, Funk and Soul. Later moving venue to the Hill Top also in West Kingsdown, he was responsible for breaking classics such as Lonnie Liston Smith's "Expansions" and Ritchie Cole's "Groovin on a New York Afternoon".

In 1979, he became a staff writer for Blues & Soul Magazine.^[1] After a year he was promoted to features editor, a position he would hold until 1983. He left Blues & Soul to join London Records as an A&R manager.

Through his connections in London Records Tong was exposed to the newly emerging house music sound from Chicago. In 1986, Tong organised a compilation album, The House Sound of Chicago, Vol. 1, the first British release to gather and expose this genre.

Radio career[link]

Tong's first appearance on radio was in the late 1970s on Radio Invicta 92.4fm, Europe's first soul station. He joined a rotation of nightclub djs including Steve Walsh, Chris Hill, Chris Brown and others to present monthly guest shows. Later he appeared on local radio station BBC Radio Medway in the 'Soul Mafia' and doing occasional mixes for Radio London. In 1981 he made his first appearance on Radio 1 hosting a 15 minute feature on Peter Powell's show, playing the new tracks and covering the latest gossip and news from the dance world.

When Invicta Radio started up in Kent in 1984, Tong joined them to host a regular soul show, where assisted by local Kent journalist Eddie Gordon of the Kent Messenger he built up a big county profile. Tong stayed at Invicta until 1987. He was then hired by Capital Radio in 1988 at the suggestion of DJ Jeff Young to present a weekly dance programme. DJ Jeff Young having initially been offered the slot by Capital went to BBC Radio 1 to broadcast a weekly Friday night show called The Big Beat.

In 1991 Tong returned to national radio taking over the "hot" Friday night slot from the retiring Jeff Young. Thus Tong began his long stint as the host of the Essential Selection.

The Essential Selection was a BBC Radio 1 show that aired on Friday evenings, at varying times from 6-10pm between 1991 and 2006. From 1992 to 1993, a second weekly edition of the show aired on Sunday evenings from 7-8pm. From 29 September 2006 onwards, the show dropped its name in the UK from Essential Selection and was referred to as simply "Pete Tong: The Official Start To The Weekend", airing from 7-9pm until 2009 when it changed to 9-11pm. The programme showcases the latest dance & electronic music, and informs listeners what club nights are on around the United Kingdom at weekends. It is endorsed by Radio 1 as the official start to the weekend, and attracts one of the highest audiences for a radio show in the UK. There are no plans to change this successful format.

DJing[link]

Tong is one of England's most recognised DJs.^{[citation needed]} From 2003 to 2007 he was resident at the Pacha nightclub in Ibiza, drawing people from all over the world to his Pure Pacha nights. In 2008 he left Pacha and signed with Eden in Sant Antoni de Portmany to host his own Wonderland night. In March 2011 he announced that he would be returning to Pacha on Friday nights with his new event named 'All Gone Pete Tong'.

Pete Tong plays the Together Winter Music Festival in London at the Alexandra Palace on Saturday 26 November.

Mix album discography[link]

All chart positions are in the UK Compilation Chart^[2]

• Cream Live (1995) (#3) (CD1, mixed with Paul Oakenfold)
• The Annual (1995) (#13) (CD1)
• The Annual II (1996) (#1) (CD1)
• Dance Nation 3 (1997) (Mixed by Pete Tong and Judge Jules)
• Essential Selection Summer 1997 (1997) (#4) (Orange cover)
• The Annual III (1997) (#3) (CD1)
• Essential Selection Winter 1997 (1997) (#10) (Light blue cover)
• Dance Nation 5 (Mixed by Pete Tong and Boy George)
• Essential Selection Spring 1998 (#4) (Green cover)
• Essential Selection Summer 1998 (1998) (#4) (Red cover of strawberries)
• Essential Selection Summer 1998 (1998) (Limited Edition) (#2) (Yellow cover of strawberries, CD3 is Twelve Ibiza Classics mixed by Paul Oakenfold)
• Essential Selection '98 Tong/Oakenfold (1998) (#13) (Orange cover of oranges)
• Essential Selection '98 Tong/Oakenfold (1998) (Limited Edition) (#11) (Purple cover of tinted oranges, CD3 is mixed by Carl Cox)
• Essential Selection Spring 1999 (1999) (#13) (Cover of gold, green and purple easter eggs)
• Essential Selection Spring 1999 (1999) (Limited Edition) (#3) (Gold cover of easter eggs, CD3 is Hacienda Classics mixed by Graeme Park)
• Essential Selection Ibiza 1999 (1999) (#11) (Cover of blue, red and yellow buckets and spades)
• Essential Selection Ibiza 1999 (1999) (#7) (Cover of green, purple and virdian bucket and spades, CD3 is mixed by DJ Pippi)
• Essential Millennium (1999) (#10) (Mixed by Pete Tong/Fatboy Slim/Paul Oakenfold)
• Essential Selection Spring 2000 (2000) (#8)
• Essential Selection Ibiza 2000 (2000) (#11)
• Essential Mix 2000 (2000)
• Twisted Beats (2001)
• Essential Selection Presents The Clubber's Bible Winter 2002 (2001)
• Fashion TV Presents Pete Tong (2003)
• Essential Selection Pete Tong (2003) (did not chart)
• Pure Pacha Ibiza: Mixed by Pete Tong and Andy B (2004)
• It's Showtime! (Pete Tong Presents Pure Pacha Vol.II Summer Season 2005 (2005)
• Essential Classics (2005)
• Pure Pacha Vol.1 (2006) (Mixed by Pete Tong & Sarah Main)
• Essential Dance Mix (2006)
• Pure Pacha 3 (Mixed with Pete Tong and Sarah Main)
• Wonderland (2008)
• Pete Tong Presents Wonderland 2009 (2009)
• Pete Tong Presents Wonderland 2010 (2010)
• Pete Tong and Riva Starr: Future Underground (2011)
• All Gone Pete Tong & Felix da House Cat Ibiza '11 (2011)
• All Gone Pete Tong & Groove Armada Miami '12 (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Pete Tong at BBC Programmes
• Pete Tong Interview - Laptoprockers (2009)
• Pete Tong Interview (2006)
• Pete Tong discography at Discogs
• Interview with DJ Times, 2000
• Video; Pete Tong interviewed by Paul Morley, 2010

Further reading[link]

• "Pete Tong Issues a Wikipedia Correction and Announces Concert at Mansion October 27" blog post by S. Pajot on "CrossFade, the Music Blog", Tue., Oct. 19 2010 @ 1:00PM, accessed October 19, 2010