Opening remarks

Honorable delegates, saluta/greetings. I’m Princess Cloe, the Sovereign Princess of Sancratosia and We would like to begin by thanking our hosts, the State of Vishwamitra, for their hospitality and their organization of this summit. We are deeply honored to have been invited and be among the many prestigious nations present today.

The Principality of Sancratosia

Sancratosia is a very young nation, having declared its independence from Canada in December 2021, just over a year ago. Even though We have been interested in micronationalism for many years, at least since 2012. Since joining the micronational community, we have had the pleasure of meeting wonderful people and making new friends.

Today we wanted to give our thoughts on a subject that is dear to us, culture and more specifically language.

Language and micronations

Micronations are a wonderful ground for exploration and culture has been at the forefront of many micronational projects. The quest of unicity between micronations has given rise to many different nations and this sparked a language diversity like no other. This language diversity has, in turn, made micronations accessible to everyone around the world. Language is not only a part of culture, but it’s also a tool to share that culture. The power of language, however, is often underestimated, it is sometimes done without a purpose in mind and a language without a purpose is useless. When its used diligently, a language can be a powerful tool that fosters a sense of belonging among citizens and helps in shaping the identity of a nation. And that, even when it’s a relatively unknown language.

Lingua Franca Nova

In this spirit, We’ll make our case for the use of Lingua Franca Nova in Sancratosia. It’s an auxiliary language, a language that is engineered to be understood by people who have learned a romance language. It takes from Catalan, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and French and has a simple grammar borrowed from various romance creoles.

Now, we also use English a lot in Sancratosia, as is often said, it’s one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world. However, we actually have citizens who, when we only use English, shame us for that. Why you may ask? Because they don’t fully understand English. With Lingua Franca Nova at least, they can have a better understanding because it follows their grammar, it follows their vocabulary and it’s simple.

And that’s why we chose Lingua Franca Nova as an official language. We wanted to have this language whose purpose is to be understood. It does not have complicated rules, nor a complicated orthography or vocabulary. It’s meant to be straight to the point and you don’t need hours of reading or learning to understand it.

It’s also a part of our identity and a part of the culture of Sancratosia. With Lingua Franca Nova, people feel a part of something that is unique and gives them a sense of belonging to a community, and We think this is what micronationalism is about. In Sancratosia, you’ll never see someone saying “Hello”, you’ll see them say “Saluta”, it has become the form of greeting between citizens. It’s become a way to distinguish citizens from visitors. We don’t expect everyone in Sancratosia to learn Lingua Franca Nova, nor do We think they expect that We want them to, but they really enjoy that taking elements of this language in our regular conversations is one of the common traits we share as Sancratosians.

Conclusion

Just showcasing one case example where a relatively unknown language adopted as an official language, when done purposefully can be beneficial for a micronation. Let’s not underestimate the power of language and culture.