We usually consider the history of the Talossan language to begin two millennia or more before what we term its “rediscovery” by R. Ben Madison, the founder of the Kingdom of Talossa, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA, because in some sense, the Talossan language has two histories. Although all actual evidence that has yet been unearthed indicates that the language was created by Madison in the year 1980, that incontrovertible fact should not be given any more credence in the Talossan mind than the fanciful and mythical history of the language that Madison (King Robert I of Talossa) came up with, and that has been refined in the years since.
In its mythical backstory, the Talossan language has existed since the time of the Roman Empire. The language mythically began life as the rural form of Latin spoken by the north African Berbers under control of Rome. These mythical Talossan-speakers mythically migrated across Gibraltar into Europe, where their language mythically picked up features of other Romance languages. Talossan then began to mythically incorporate features of Germanic languages, such as Swedish, English, and German, as the mythical community mythically moved north. Strong Gaelic features also became evident due to the mythical migration through Ireland on the way to the New World, where American Indian language influence that can still be seen in the language also mythically crept in.
Talossan took root on the western shore of Lake Michigan (la Mar Talossan) and has flourished ever since being “rediscovered”. A truly unique Romance language with Germanic and Celtic features, Talossan is used as one of the cultural ties in the communities of Talossans worldwide. Talossan has been called the “Romance English” because, although it retains the characteristics it shares with other Romance languages, the Talossan vocabulary, like that of English, has grown by a liberal borrowing from languages of tremendously varied sources. As in English, it is quite common to find words taken from Italic, Slavic, Germanic, and Celtic roots all sharing space in the same sentence.
Whether in its mythical past or in its very real present, the Talossan language has been a continually evolving language. This very fact is what has made Talossan a living language like the other natural languages of the world. Because of this, Talossan has the same kind of odd corners, interesting peculiarities, and quirky irregularities that other languages have. This gives Talossan a unique feel, to where it does not “feel” like a constructed language.