Final answer:
The Phoenicians are credited for spreading languages around the Mediterranean Sea, establishing colonies like Carthage, and inventing the Phoenician alphabet, which influenced European alphabets.
Step-by-step explanation:
The culture generally credited for spreading languages around the Mediterranean Sea during ancient times are the Phoenicians. This Semitic-speaking, seafaring people, based on the eastern Mediterranean coast, particularly around Tyre in what is present-day Lebanon, established a series of trading posts and colonies along the Mediterranean coast. These settlements, such as the influential city of Carthage, were critical in the distribution of the Phoenician alphabet, which is the ancestor to most present-day European alphabets, as well as the establishment of a trade network that unified the Mediterranean world. The Phoenicians' innovative nautical skills, exemplified by the invention of the bireme, allowed them to extend their influence far beyond their native shores—reaching even the Atlantic coasts of Spain and Africa—spreading their culture, language, and commercial practices.
Alongside direct trade, cultural exchanges and the founding of colonies played a significant role in the spread of languages and ideas. As the Phoenicians traveled and established new settlements, they introduced their writing system and commercial acumen to other cultures they encountered, including the Greeks, who later adapted the Phoenician writing system by adding vowels, thus creating the basis for the Greek alphabet. The Greek alphabet, in turn, heavily influenced the Latin alphabet, which forms the foundation for many of today's Western alphabets. This web of interactions demonstrates the importance of the Phoenicians in disseminating linguistic tools across the Mediterranean basin.