Word: lingua
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...other major non-Caucasian strain is Filipino (17%), followed by Chinese and Korean. Thus while Hawaiian, a melodious language that the missionaries alphabetized into a mere twelve characters, is still spoken and sung on the island, many natives converse in pidgin English, the world's most colorful lingua franca. A dark-hued hotel waiter, cussed out by an irate Texan who has received the soup in his lap, retorts: "Eh, now, no take out on me, you stupid buggah! Udderwise bimeby I gone broke your head in small tiny pieces...
Elsewhere, Virginia creamed Texas and California to win the Certamen-a classical version of the College Bowl quiz -with state teams battling it out onstage over the lingua mater. "What case is required for the object of vescorl" shot out Questioner James Minter, 25, a candidate at Columbia University for a Ph.D. in classics. Flashing lights signaled the correct answer: "The ablative." Sample sticklers: "What Italian myth figure changed into a woodpecker?" "What Latin emperor was transformed, in a satire, into a pumpkin?" Answers: Picus and Claudius...
...Fula, lingua franca in northern Cameroun but spoken in several other western African countries, having sizable literature in Arabic and Latin script, spoken by over five million people...
...Akan, representing a group of languages, proposed as the national language of Ghana, lingua franca in Ivory Coast, spoken by over three million people...
...Mande-Tan, representing a subgroup, proposed as official language of Mali, important lingua franca of western Africa, having some literature written in Arabic script or indigenous script (e.g. Vai) and spoken by over six million people...