Hello everyone!

I've been taking a look at Talossan orthography and pronunciation. If I'm not mistaken, the latest official learning resource is this (https://wiki.talossa.com/SIGN:Dals_Recomend%C4%83s_s%C3%BCr_el_Glhe%C3%BE_Talossan), right?

According to it, it seems that a lot of Talossan sounds can be represented by sundry graphemes, notably:

f : f, ph
θ : þ, tg
s : s, ss, ß, ç
ʃ : sh, sch, x
h : h, fh, th
t : t, ts
k : c, ch, k
ʦ : ts, tz
ʧ : tsch, c
ʤ : xh, g
v : mh, bh, vf
ð : dh, ð, intervocalic d, initial l
z : s, z
d : d, dd, initial dt
g : g, initial gc
m : m, initial mb
n : n, initial nd
ɲ : nh, gnh
ʎ : lh, glh
j : j, y
w : vh, w

Some of these alternatives are clearly explained, for instance:
y and w in loanwords / j and vh elsewhere ;
þ & tg being equivalent ;
dt & gc being restricted to word-initial positions...
However, this does not explain why those variations exist in a first place.

But some other alternatives are less obvious, for instance: what differentiates glh from lh? gnh from nh? fh from th? f from ph? sh from sch? t from ts?
 
To be clear, I do not intend this as a critic of Talossan writing. I'm not complaining about this complexity; on the contrary, it can give quaintness and uniqueness to a language. However, I would like to understand if those specificities are random and arbitrary, or if there are hidden rules behind them. How did this diversity arise?

Overall, my question is: what led Talossan spelling to be this irregular? Are all those orthographic variations based on predictable reasons, can they by used up to one's preference, or do they just have to be learnt by heart?

Thanks in advance for any help!

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Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 28, 2025, 12:44:32 PM
WHEREAS under the current circumstances, there's a good chance that during any conflict the American Secretary of Defense will accidentally text us their plans, giving us a substantial advantage,

THEREFORE it is declared that a state of war now exists between the Kingdom of Talossa and the United States.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Alexandreu Davinescu (MC-PROG)

Erm... Should I join?

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Bonjour ! Merci de m'accueillir. Ravi également de rencontrer des Français, même dans cette nation du bout du monde (ou au moins du bout d'internet). À tout hasard, est-ce que certains d'entre vous seraient même bretons ? Je me demande si un Talossien de cette province a déjà eu l'occasion de planter son drapeau sur la véritable île de Cézembre.

En ce qui me concerne, j'avais entendu parler de Talossa il y a bien des années (sur YouTube me semble-t-il) lorsque j'avais découvert avec émerveillement l'existence des micronations. Pour Talossa en particulier, j'étais fasciné par l'idée que cette nation miniature mais internationale, étrange et sympathique, ait pu se développer si loin à partir d'un événement très trivial et pourtant très étonnant : un homme qui, un beau matin, se déclare roi de sa chambre à coucher. Qu'à la seule force de la croissance et de la créativité d'une communauté, Talossa ait pu passer d'une couronne en papier sur un blog isolé à une constitution, une encyclopédie, une culture et même une langue construite entière... voilà qui n'est pas commun. C'est pourquoi, après une longue période de semi-oubli où cette anecdote est néanmoins toujours resté dans un coin de ma tête, je suis revenu vers Talossa, curieux et intrigué, et après en avoir appris un petit peu plus sur elle et réveillé mon intérêt à son propos, j'ai tenté de remplir le formulaire.

Et vous/toi, depuis quand et par quel biais êtes-vous/es-tu devenu citoyen de Talossa (et sénéchal de Cézembre) ?

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Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on March 28, 2025, 10:46:27 AMWelcome @Alexandre (Monasteriolum)

I am tracking an issue with immigration applications and wanted to check on something. When did you submit your application? March 27th or March 28th?

I submitted the application file on March 26th, and I created my Wittenberg account on March 27th

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Quote from: King Txec on March 28, 2025, 10:00:21 AMWelcome to Talossa!

-Txec R

Thank you very much!

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Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on March 27, 2025, 07:02:11 PMEn effet je suis traductrice FR->EN!

Désolée pour mes soupçons, mais on a eu quelques problèmes avec des citoyens prospectifs qui ont utilisé ChatGPT pour écrire des essais presque sans sens.

Oh OK, that's nice! Well, no problem about AI, I totally understand why you had a doubt. When an unskilled and unfluent writer meets a professional Fench-English translater, of course the dubious speech from the first will be analysed and suspected by the latter haha. And of course people unfortunately do increasingly tend to replace their pens with AI nowadays. (To be fair, I personally also do use AI from time to time! but only for word processing and information treatment; I never ask it to write instead of me, and I hugely dislike it's style — though sometimes I ironically also may sound like one...).

Agréablement surpris de constater que les deux premiers messages que je lis ici sont en français. Talossa ne se limite donc pas à Milwaukee !

Quote from: þerxh Sant-Enogat on March 27, 2025, 06:26:36 PMBonjour Alexandre, bienvenue ! Cela fait plaisir de rencontrer un français intéressé par notre petite nation. Si tu es naturalisé, tu seras rattaché à la Province Souveraine de Cézembre. Savais tu qu'au large de Saint Malo, l'île de Cézembre est revendiquée par Talossa depuis 1982 ?
Participating to our Talossan life is also an excellent way to chat with citizens from many different places, and practise English.. at least as long as you are not fluent in Talossan ;-)

Hello!
Thanks for welcoming me. I had indeed read about Cézembre on the Talossan Wiki; even though I live closer to Paris than Britanny, I'll join your beautiful province with pleasure! (By the way I think I understood you were its incumbent leader?)

Je suis également ravi de rencontrer des talossiens (c'est bien comme ça qu'on dit ?) francophones ici, et qui plus est des concitoyens franco-syldaves (si j'en crois votre devise). Y a-t-il beaucoup d'autres Français à Cézembre ? Je me permets d'utiliser l'anglais dans le doute, quitte à perdre en fluidité et à écorcher la grammaire haha

By the way, it's the first time I use such an online forum, so I still have to learn its functionalities and how to browse the different threads: apologies in advance if make mistakes with the messages.
In any case, I'm glad to meet you and to be a guest in Talossan Cézembre. About The language, though I probably won't be fluent by the end of the month, I'll try to get a grasp of Talossan basics. Even if I'm not the best learner, I think already speaking a Romance language is a significant advantage when it comes to Talossan...

Ben nic'ht! (Cool dictionary, I'll sure keep a tab open for it for a while)

Hello and thank you for welcoming!
I actually didn't use any AI at all. I can send a screenshot of my account to prove it if you want, or I can write another answer if necessary. Sorry for the bothering.
Even though, as far as I know, I am totally, naturally and purely human since birth (for the better or the worse), when reading my message again, I can easily understand why one would think otherwise. English is not my first language and I'm not always very good at it, so the way I write may seem off, unnatural or impersonal. I apologise for the confusion — I'll definitely try to sound less robotic in the future!
Looking forward to learn more about your ImagiNation, I remain at your disposal
Alexandre
(By the way, your message appears in French on my screen. Is it an automatic translation made by my web browser, or did you actually write in French?)

Is this working by any chance?