Talossa, also known as the Kingdom of Talossa ( tzl, Regipäts Talossan ), is one of the earliest

micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified ...

sfounded in 1979 by then-14-year-old Robert Ben Madison of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

and at first confined to his bedroom; he adopted the name after discovering that the word means "inside the house" in Finnish. Among the first such projects still maintained, it has kept up a web presence since 1995."Castles in the air."
''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'', 20 December 2005."Shortcuts: Starting your own country"
CNN.com, 27 September 2006. Its internet and media exposure since the late 1990s contributed to the appearance of other subsequent internet micronations. Talossa claims several places on Earth as its territory, especially a portion of

, calling it the "Greater Talossan Area"; no such claim, however, is recognized by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

or by any other nation. As of June 23, 2016, the number of active citizens is said to be 213. Including those who are no longer citizens for various reasons, those who are under the age of 14 and so are not yet citizens, and those from the ESB Affair there are 493 total registered individuals. The current King of Talossa is John Wooley (Ian Lupul). The successors to the throne are the children of the Present King (Prince Patrick, Prince Peter, Princess Daniele). Kings of Talossa : Robert I (1979–1987), Robert II (1987), Florence I (1987–1988), Robert I (1988–2005), Louis (Regent, 2005–2006), John I (2006–)

Culture

Talossan culture has been developed over the years by Robert Madison and other fans. The Talossan language, also created by Madison in 1980, claims a vocabulary of 35,000 root words and 121,000 derived wordsThe CÚG and Its Mission
" ''El Glheþ Talossan,'' 2012. Accessed 2 June 2016.including ''fieschada,'' meaning "

love at first sight Love at first sight is a personal experience as well as a common trope in literature: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. Described by p ...

".L'Översteir
(Translator), ''El Glheþ Talossan,'' 2012. Accessed 2 June 2016.

History and growth

Talossa was founded as a kingdom on December 26, 1979,
accessed on 2020-03-18. by Madison, shortly after the death of his mother. Madison maintained Talossa throughout his adolescence, publishing a handwritten newspaper and designing a flag and emblem. During this time its only other members were about a dozen relatives and acquaintances. This changed in the mid-1990s, when a series of stories in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''Stephen Mimh (2000) ''Utopian rulers and spoofs stake out territory online''. New York Times, May 25, 2000Roberta Smith
"Art in Review: We could have invited everybody"

July 15, 2005. and ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'',Alex Blumberg
"It's good to be king"

, March 2000, 8.03. subsequently republished elsewhere, drew his website to popular attention. Several new "citizens" joined Talossa as a result, and Madison began to claim that he was the inventor of the term "micronation". Madison disestablished the "kingdom" in late 2005, but Talossa is still active today despite the lack of involvement of the original founder. Madison registered "Talossa"Talossa entry
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Accessed June 2, 2016 as a service mark in 2005 and created Talossa, Inc., a Wisconsin not-for-profit corporation. By 2013 the service mark had been cancelled and the corporation had been administratively dissolved.Talossa entry
in Wisconsin Financial Institutions register. Accessed on 2010-01-01.

Talossan language

Madison invented Talossan ( or ) as a

constructed language A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction ...

for his

. With its relatively large vocabulary, which is mostly French-based, it is said to be one of the most detailed

fictional language Fictional languages are the subset of constructed languages (conlangs) that have been created as part of a fictional setting (e.g. for use in a book, movie, television show, or video game). Typically they are the creation of one individual, while ...

s ever invented. The former

Association of Talossan Language Organisations Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

(ATLO) maintained a website describing the language for new learners, providing language information, research and online translation to and from English. The

ISO 639 ISO 639 is a set of standards by the International Organization for Standardization that is concerned with representation of names for languages and language groups. It was also the name of the original standard, approved in 1967 (as ''ISO 639/R ...

designation is "tzl".Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: tzl
2013-01-23. Accessed 2 June 2016. That website is now deprecated, and new resources will be created with the formation of ''la Società per l'Ilesnaziun del Glheþ Naziunal'' (Society for the Facilitation of the National Language, SIGN). The language is overseen by the ''Comità per l'Útzil del Glheþ'' ("Committee for the Use of the Language," CÚG), a group formed by Madison which periodically issued both ''Arestadas'' (decrees) to describe and document changes in language usage of the language and ''Pienamaintschen'' (supplements), to update the vocabulary list. The CÚG maintained a multi-lingual website providing access to the recent recommendations of the Committee.Comità per l'Útzil del Glheþ
CÚG More recently, la SIGN is currently being created with the goal of assuming the CÚG's responsibilities.

Writing system

Talossan uses the Latin alphabet. The letters of modern Talossan are:

Literature

* Clemens J. Setz: ''Die Bienen und das Unsichtbare'', Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2020, pp. 174–184.

References

External links

Talossa website

Talossa wiki

Talossan language information and translation resource

Committee for the Use of Talossan Language

L'Översteir, bidirectional Talossan-English translator

2010 Arestada newsletter
* {{conlang Artistic languages Constructed languages Micronations in France Micronations in the United States States and territories established in 1979 West Antarctica micronations