1. The Colonial Factor: The Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets.

Throughout the 19th century, the British Empire became the world's most formidable colonial power, encompassing territories across all inhabited continents. It was during this period that the English language began acquiring global status, transitioning from a national linguistic instrument into a means of administrative governance, educational policy, and geopolitical influence. The renowned expression "The empire on which the sun never sets" aptly captures the breadth of British presence — from the Caribbean basin to the Indian subcontinent, from South Africa to Australia and Canada.

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With administrative, legal, educational, and military systems operating predominantly in English, millions had to master this language not merely for communication but as a means of survival, civic participation, and upward mobility. Within colonial domains, English served not only a utilitarian function — bridging the metropolis and its peripheries — but also operated as a potent instrument of cultural assimilation and systemic control. It was implemented in judicial proceedings, state governance, military command, and notably, the educational system — from missionary schools to imperial universities. 

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Proficiency in English thus became more than a practical asset; it evolved into a prerequisite for professional advancement, social legitimacy, and even existential security within colonial hierarchies. The dissemination of English via imperial expansion was not an organic or incidental phenomenon — it was a calculated policy of linguistic implantation, embedding the language deeply within the frameworks of power and institutional dominance.

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This colonial linguistic architecture left a resilient legacy, one that endured well beyond the formal dissolution of empire. It laid the structural and symbolic groundwork for English’s eventual emergence as the lingua franca of a globalized world.

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2. Economic Hegemony: The Language of Capital and Contracts.

Following the end of World War II, the epicenter of global economic power definitively shifted from European empires to the United States of America — the most robust industrial, financial, and military nation, physically unscathed but economically strengthened. During post-war reconstruction, English definitively transitioned from a colonial instrument into a new role — the language of the global economic order: international trade, the dollar, contract law, aviation communication, corporate management, and transnational capital. Business schools, global banks, stock exchanges, and auditing companies adopted English as the de facto language of commercial interaction. It was utilized for drafting international contracts, regulating currency transactions, and standardizing financial procedures.

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English became the language of the U.S. dollar — the world's principal reserve currency — and hence the language of price indexes, stock exchange quotations, banking documentation, and monetary policy. Concurrently, business etiquette, corporate management styles, business communication, and managerial models developed at Harvard, Stanford, and other U.S. business schools were disseminated globally alongside the language itself.

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English held particular significance in aviation and maritime logistics, where it was mandated as an obligatory international standard for flight safety and navigation. Thus, linguistic standardization became an indispensable element of global economic operability.

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Consequently, English evolved into the universal language of capital, contracts, and technological advancement, ensuring the harmonization of business practices, reducing transaction costs, and fostering increased mutual trust among economic actors worldwide. Its dominance in legal, banking, auditing, and transportation structures solidified its status as the lingua franca of the modern economy.

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3. The Academic Environment: Knowledge That Speaks English

In the modern era, English has solidified its role as the principal epistemological platform — not merely a medium for intercultural exchange but also as the language of creation, articulation, and legitimation of knowledge itself. Currently, over 80% of all scientific publications globally are produced in English, encompassing natural sciences, technical disciplines, humanities, philosophy, and sociology. This underscores not only the global nature of contemporary science but also signifies linguistic consolidation within academic discourse.

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Leading research institutions — Harvard, Oxford, MIT, Stanford, Cambridge — operate in English, formulating paradigms, theories, and methodological approaches that define the trajectory of global scientific advancement. The most cited scientific journals, international patent applications, interdisciplinary dialogues at global conferences, and most research funding grants and academic programs are all predominantly conducted in English.

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Proficiency in English has become not merely a desirable skill but often a prerequisite for participation in the global scientific community. Increasingly, English is perceived not simply as a language of translation but as a language of thought — the medium in which new concepts, hypotheses, terminologies, and academic genres are formulated.

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Given these dynamics, English today functions not only as a conduit for transmitting knowledge but also as the determining environment for its production, dissemination, and recognition. Its dominance within academia has become a foundational determinant in constructing a global intellectual landscape, wherein English operates as the language not only of dialogue — but also, symbolically, of truth.

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4. Technological Dominance: The Language of the Internet and Digital Communication.

At the end of the twentieth century, the world entered a new phase of globalization — the digital era. Within this new dimension, English again became central, reaffirming its lingua franca status as the language of information technology, programming, digital platforms, and global communication. The pioneering role of the United States in developing computer systems, operating environments, network protocols, and social media cemented English as the language of digital code, interfaces, instructions, and documentation.

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The Internet, originating as a project by American universities and the defense network ARPANET, expanded with an English-speaking core, shaping linguistic algorithms, search optimization, and user logic based on English lexicon. Currently, over 50% of all internet resources are created in English, and software — from basic applications to Artificial Intelligence — "thinks" in English terms.

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Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Google Translate, and Siri were initially developed based on English syntactic and semantic structures, granting them structural and functional primacy in machine learning and natural language processing (NLP). 

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Programming languages (notably Python, JavaScript, and C++) utilize English grammar for commands and structures, making proficiency mandatory for those aspiring to engage with the technological domain. Across social networks, online education, gaming, streaming, and commercial advertising, English functions as a global bridge between cultures, requiring no translation to reach mass audiences.

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Thus, English has evolved beyond a mere communicative tool into the infrastructural backbone of the digital world. Its lingua franca status in high-tech sectors is not incidental but the direct consequence of the geopolitical, economic, and intellectual ascendancy of the English-speaking world during the Information Revolution.

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5. Linguistic Universality: Functional Simplicity and Adaptability.

A distinct role in the establishment of English as a lingua franca was played by its intrinsic linguistic features — characteristics facilitating its dissemination, acquisition, and adaptability across diverse global regions. Unlike many Indo-European languages, English is marked by relative grammatical simplicity, notably lacking grammatical gender and noun declension systems, and employing a verb system that, despite its nuanced tense structures, can be pragmatically streamlined for cross-linguistic communication.

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English's extensive and open lexical inventory, enriched through centuries of interactions with Latin, French, Scandinavian, and other languages, allows it to accumulate a wealth of meanings and terminological flexibility. The language readily adopts foreign lexemes, integrates neologisms, and generates linguistic hybrids, enabling continual renewal in response to socio-cultural demands.

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Morphologically, English favors analytical over inflectional constructions, thereby simplifying syntactic organization and enhancing intelligibility for non-native and non-philological users. This structural openness has empowered English to embed itself in multilingual contexts without eradicating local languages, instead coexisting through bi- or multilingual practices.

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Thus, the linguistic universality of English — its flexibility, openness, structural simplicity, and high adaptability — has been equally crucial to its global proliferation as colonial, economic, or technological factors. It has facilitated learning and made English acceptable as a neutral medium of communication in a multilingual world.

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6. Cultural Globalization: The Language of Mass Culture.

In parallel with economic and technological expansion, English has solidified its position as the primary tool of global cultural communication. Hollywood cinema, British music, American television series, streaming platforms, and entertainment industry giants (Netflix, YouTube, Spotify) have established English as a language of mass influence, aesthetic consumption, and emotional resonance for billions worldwide. Through movies, songs, memes, and video blogs, it has become not only a communication medium but also a symbol of prestige, modernity, and creativity.

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The cultural hegemony of English was not entirely imposed — it emerged organically from the voluntary engagement of millions seeking to participate in global dialogues, attain quality education, or have their voices heard internationally. Hence, English has acquired a hybrid status: both a soft power instrument and a language of personal expression.

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Consequently, in the twenty-first century, English has evolved into a cultural constant of the globalized world — multifunctional, polyphonic, and simultaneously neutral in various contexts, thus affirming its definitive establishment as the lingua franca of our era. English's contemporary status is not merely the result of instantaneous globalization or imperial coercion; rather, it is the cumulative effect of historical imperial influences, U.S. economic power, dominance in academia, the technological breakthroughs of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and its intrinsic linguistic architecture. Within the context of shaping interfaces between humanity and Artificial Intelligence, English functions as an interim universal access code, maintaining neutrality while simultaneously acting as a principal arterytoward a multilingual and culturally inclusive future.

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In the presented juxtaposition of four primary linguae francae throughout history — Latin, French, Arabic, and English — analyzed across core civilizational criteria (see comparative table), the following conclusions may be drawn:

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Latin functioned as the language of sacred and scholarly legitimacy in medieval Europe, but lost its influence following the secularization of education [4, 5]. French served as the diplomatic and cultural lingua franca during the age of absolutism, but its prominence waned alongside the decline of France as a global hegemon [6, 7]. Arabic played the role of a unifying language within the Islamic world due to its religious authority, scientific flourishing, and trade networks [8, 9]. English is the first lingua franca to integrate all spheres — economy, science, culture, technology, and the digital realm — entrenching itself not only among elites but also in mass usage [10–12].

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We have additionally examined empirical, historical, and functional data regarding the number of speakers of these four major linguae francae — Latin, French, Arabic, and English. Accordingly: