What is the next global lingua franca and why?

[Cainntear]

Let's imagine Mandarin took over for a second. Would the writing system survive, or would the world communicate in pinyin? I'd reckon the latter, as it would be so inefficient trying to get billions of people to learn so many ideograms when they're not otherwise part of everyday life. Now, would the Chinese want this? No. Occasionally the suggestion of going alphabetic pops up and Chinese people get really upset.

So I don't see how Mandarin could ever be the global language. Heck, even if a Chinese Bond-villain staged a global coup, I still reckon he'd use English as the means of communication as it would make his life a heck of a lot easier (see also the Incas and Quechua).

[zenmonkey]

(see also the Incas and Quechua).

What do you mean here?

[Cainntear]

(see also the Incas and Quechua).

What do you mean here?

Mainstream thinking at the moment (AFAIK) is that Quechua was not the language of the Incas, yet it became the language of the Inca empire. For some unknown reason they just found it more convenient to use it as the administrative language. Speculative reasons include: desire to keep their own language to themselves to be able to talk about stuff behind people's backs; significant Quechua majority in the early stages of the expansion of the empire; Quechua established as lingua franca of trade prior to formation of empire.

[fresh_air]

(see also the Incas and Quechua).

What do you mean here?

Mainstream thinking at the moment (AFAIK) is that Quechua was not the language of the Incas, yet it became the language of the Inca empire. For some unknown reason they just found it more convenient to use it as the administrative language. Speculative reasons include: desire to keep their own language to themselves to be able to talk about stuff behind people's backs; significant Quechua majority in the early stages of the expansion of the empire; Quechua established as lingua franca of trade prior to formation of empire.

Do you have a source? I want to read more in-depth into this topic.

[Querneus]

(see also the Incas and Quechua).

What do you mean here?

Mainstream thinking at the moment (AFAIK) is that Quechua was not the language of the Incas, yet it became the language of the Inca empire. For some unknown reason they just found it more convenient to use it as the administrative language. Speculative reasons include: desire to keep their own language to themselves to be able to talk about stuff behind people's backs; significant Quechua majority in the early stages of the expansion of the empire; Quechua established as lingua franca of trade prior to formation of empire.

A better understood case would be the Neo-Assyrian Empire's use of Ancient Aramaic as a lingua franca after their westward expansion conquering Damascus, instead of imposing the Empire's Akkadian. Then history repeated itself with the Achaemenids' use of Imperial Aramaic as their state's lingua franca, as it was already an informally established lingua franca prior to their expansion, even though they spoke Old Persian.