Slokaisian Language

Slokaisian (Slokaisian: Bahasa Slokaisian) is a language spoken primarily in Slokais Islands. Slokaisian was created during the 1940s although modifed and adopted as a national language in 1973. Today, the language is spoken by around 68 million people, with most being in Slokais and additional minorities in Haesan, Laeral, and Mallacaland.

History

The Slokaisian Language originates from the founding of the Slokais Islands in the 1890s. Due to the many language groups found in Slokais, politicians at the time suggested the creation of a "common language" At the time, English and Spanish were widely accepted as the two recognized languages. However, this was not cemented officially by law. In the 1930s, a group of political thinkers, linguists, and religious leaders established the Slokaisian Language Organization (SLO). The SLO held several meetings across Slokais, gathering public input for the structure of a new language. In 1940, the SLO adopted Bahasa Slokaisian and its corresponding alphabet and structure as a declared "language for Slokais".

Basha Slokasian saw limited use in its early years and was largely used by academics or highly educated social progressives. The first school for the language opened in 1943 in New Liverpool and was known as Sekolah le Slokais or "The School of Slokais" and operated classes for grade and college-level students. In 1947 the school's first graduates helped write the Slokaisian Language Dictionary or "Kamus Bahasa Slokaisian" the text becoming a key part of a growing group of collegiate classes in the language. In 1954, Juan Costa declared the Slokaisian Language as "an elitist form of communication" and banned the dictionary from public sale. Later several teachers were arrested on charges of "faulty teaching credentials" as teaching the language led to banishment from the Slokasian Reformist Teachers Union.

Commission on the Slokaisian Language

After United Federation forces captured New Liverpool in 1966 and declared a new government, the first meeting of the United Federation Parliament was held. At that meeting Speaker Howard Xiang stated in his opening remarks “I want to create a new united Slokais, a common tongue, a common name and a common goal”. This statement was actually taken from a pre-war nationalist book, yet was still well received by many. Just a few months later, the UFP passed a legislation to establish a sub-committee to build national unity known as The Parliamentary Sub-Committee on a Common Language (PSC-CL). In 1967, the PSC-CL passed a set of rules around language, a highly debated topic, known as the Language Act of 1967. Included was the creation of a the Commission on the Slokaisian Language to create a new national language in addition to the national languages of English and Spanish.

The Commission on the Slokaisian Language was made up of 27 members, with representatives languages from each major language group as well as linguistic scholars from several universities. Included in the committee were some surviving Basha Slokasian experts who largely pushed for the existing system to be implemented. However it was argued by Professor David Yuen, the Slokasian Bashra system largely relied on the San Fernando dialect of Spainsh and didn't include representation for Mandarin or speakers of indigenous languages. The work of the committee was largely focused on expanding the Slokaisian Language Dictionary from around 1,000 words to about 10,000. These words were often developed from existing words with balance given to major languages. In addition, each Commission member was trained to speak the language during development so issues with grammar could be addressed as they arose. Eventually after 3 year's, the Commission released a report for language implementation with January 1st, 1973 being declared as the start date for it's use as one of the three official languages.

Implementation

Slokasian was launched as a mandatory class for all students enrolled in public institutions for 5 years. After 1978, Slokasian was allowed to be designated as a Second Language by provincial educational bodies. Classes were developed by the Commission on the Slokaisian Language in cooperation with educators and focused on reading first, listening second, speaking third, and writing fourth. There was initial pushback from parents who worried that the language being pushed upon young children would lead to difficulties with their native languages at home, especially those who spoke Mandarin. In fact, enrollment in private Mandarin-speaking schools tripled between 1975 and 1985.

In addition to teaching children, funding was given for provinces to provide 5 years of programming for adults. Some provinces, such as San Fernando South, invested heavily in the language itself, with local TV having nightly programs for several decades. Public libraries began holding weekly classes in Slokasian across the country, although the program was not standardized, with participants filling out worksheets or holding reading practices. In 2000, David Chiang wrote in his book "The Language of Youth", "the failure of Slokasian Bahasa was its focus on youth and programs for adults made adult learners feel lesser then." Chiang's claim is supported by the fact that in the 2000 Census, only 40% of those over 30 considered themselves speakers of Slokasian, with less then 5% claiming it as their first language.

By 1983, when predictions had placed nationwide usage of Slokasian as a primary language of communication at 50%, less than 15% actually did, with numbers heavily drifting towards youth who had used the language in school. Additionally, language creolization occurred quickly as various dialects appeared, influenced by the speaker's original native language. In fact, proficiency exams had low rates of success until 1990 due to students and educators disregarding grammar rules. President Pablo Smith defunded the Commission on the Slokaisian Language in 1989, signaling the end of the government's experiment with a national language.

The Dialect Revolution

While the national government abandoned the language, Bahasa remained in official status across several provinces, especially those with large indigenous and Meszito population's. New Liverpool began to publish all government documents in English, Pindai Mandarin, and Slokasian in 2003, as students began to learn Slokasian as a mandatory second language for all years of public schooling. Additionally, the city also began to open Mandarin language charter schools, which taught Mandarin primarily. As those educated in the 70s and 80's began to become the primary demographic of working-people and these people began having children, three dialects emerged nationally. Bahasa Traditional, Bahasa Arabi, and Bahasa Urbano. Traditional was common in provinces where indigenous languages had once been common; it took on structure and form based on the original CSL textbooks and was adopted as a primary language among indigenous people. Bahasa Arabi was influenced by Arabic grammar rules and became popular in Bimhjar and Kaijan as a form of communication between locals and non-locals. Bahasa Urbano was the most slang-heavy and used Spanish-style personal pronouns, although regarded as unprofessional due to its usage in Jalencalle and S-Rap music in San Jose, San Fernando, and New Liverpool.

By 2010, 55% of the population used Slokasian as a language of communication and 20% as a primary language. This led to Bahasa Slokaisian being adopted as an official language once again in 2017 by Joseph Chavez, who had grown up a speaker due to his education in New Liverpool's public school system.

Geographic Distribution

Bahasa Slokasian has 68.8 million speakers, with 20.3 million native speakers and 48.5 million second or third-language speakers. Generally speaking, Slokasian is used as a first language in urban areas, while being used as a second or even third language in rural areas. Valleres Province has the highest percentage of first language speakers with 60.4%, while small Far'awe has the highest second language speaker percentage at 90.9%. Although there are varying levels of proficiency. If using school-age speakers, South San Fernando had the highest percentage of students taking the language passing the Slokasian Language Proficiency Exam (SLPE) with 88.7%

Policy

As of the 2017 Language Act, the Slokasian Language is required to be used or included across several federal and provincial government functions. This includes all official government decrees and documents meant for the general public, such as laws, declarations, and military orders. Additionally, all signage in federal facilities must be written in Standard Bahasa along with English and Spanish at a minimum. In areas with Bahasa first-language proficiency above 50%, all medical and educational documents must be written in Bahasa or risk a fine or being liable to a lawsuit. Prior to the 2017 Language Act, public officials often included or used the language as a political statement, with some choosing not to include translations. Court cases at all levels must be conducted in the Slokasian Language if the primary defendant or any party requests it, and all judges must provide a time for parties to appeal for such a situation, although this was standard procedure since the 1970s. Although not required, employment in civil service requires the submission of SLPE scores; although a passing score is not required for employment, a failing score may reflect upon the job candidate.

Writing

Slokaisian is written in direct Latin script to be understandable for English and Spanish speakers, and also uses 24 letters. Although, unlike Spanish, there are no accent markings, with a limited number of sounds for each word to improve readability quickly. For official document usage, Bahasa Traditional form of letters and numbers in Bahasa is used.

Examples

Common Terms in Bahasa Slokaisian

Bahasa Standard	Bahasa Traditional	Bahasa Arabi	Bahasa Urbano	English	Spanish
Halo selamat	Haloah	Haloban	Hola	Hello	Hola
Sampai luego	Selamat tingal	Tingalan	Sampai luego	Goodbye	Adios
Selamat manana	Selamat pagai	Selasabah	Selamat manana	Good morning	Buenos dias
Terima gracias	Terima kaish	Terishukran	Terima gracias	Thank you	Gracias
Yo adalah	Saya	Sayaana	Yo soyah	I am	Yo soy
Nasional	Nasional	Nasiummah	Nasional	Nation	Nacional
Tu	Anda	Kamanta	Tu	You	Tu
Pulau	Pulau	Pulaujir	Pulah	Island	Isla
Air	Air	Airma	Aguir	Water	Agua
Dari	Dari	Darimin	Dari	From	De
Federasi	Federasi	Federattihad	Federacion	Federation	Federación
Thuan	Tuhan	Tuhanallah	Diosan	God	Dios
Presiden	Presiden	Presirais	Presiden	President	Presidente
Kita	Kami	Kaminah	Kitos	Us	Nosotros
Uang	Uang	Uangmal	Markones	Money	Dinero

Introduction to the LIDUN Charter

English

"We, the nations of the International Democratic Union in convention assembled:

Desiring to preserve the global community of nations and peoples from the scourge of war,

Dedicated to the cause of fostering and upholding the civil, social, cultural, economic, environmental, and political rights fundamental to all human beings,

Determined to ensure harmonious relations and fruitful cooperation between nations,

Believing firmly in the value of international dialogue so as to achieve these above goals,

Hereby establish and enshrine this Charter of the League of IDU Nations."

Bahasa Standard

Kita, bangsa-bangsa dari Uni Demokratik Internasional, berkumpul dalam konvensi:

Dengan keinginan untuk menjaga komunitas global bangsa dan rakyat dari bencana perang,

Berdedikasi pada tujuan memajukan dan mempertahankan hak-hak sipil, sosial, budaya, ekonomi, lingkungan, dan politik yang mendasar bagi semua manusia,

Bertekad untuk menjamin hubungan yang harmonis dan kerja sama yang produktif antara bangsa-bangsa,

Dengan keyakinan kuat pada nilai dialog internasional untuk mencapai tujuan-tujuan tersebut di atas,

Dengan ini menetapkan dan mengukuhkan Piagam Liga Bangsa-Bangsa IDU.