Languages of Socialist Freemen

Unlike many other countries, Socialist Freemen never instituted any official language due to the belief that no language should be favored over any other. This policy, combined with the self-sufficiency of the country's several areas, has led to a complex and somewhat confusing linguistic topology.

Background

The original nations that united to form the Commune were primarily Russian-speaking, with a few exceptions in the east which used Spanish. After the Commune's formation there was an influx of immigration from several nations which spoke foreign languages. Over time these languages became accepted, until it was common to hear several languages being spoken in the same neighborhood.

Esperanto

According to the most recent census, Esperanto is the most widely spoken language, with more than 98% of the population being fluent. Originally spreading among schoolchildren as a fad, the language gained widespread popularity after a speaker quoted the Esperantist anthem lyric: "Under the sacred sign of the hope the peaceful fighters gather, and this affair quickly grows by the labours of those who hope" during a broadcast speech about language rights.

Many cite the adoption of Esperanto as an example of its simplicity, but others attribute it to the amout of Esperanto speaking countries in the region (Tetris L-Shaped Block and Philanchez for example.) Unlike these neighbors, though, Socialist Freemen's dialect of Esperanto is largely unaltered, making it far simpler to understand.

Esperanto is the de-facto language of Socialist Freemen, being spoken in every commune and used by the federal government in all of its publications. Due to the strength of the local governments, however, Esperanto is usually only used as an auxiliary when speaking to someone from another commune. For most daily occurences, the local languages of the commune are used instead.

Russian

The most spoken language prior to unification, Russian remains very popular, particularly among the elderly. The last census reported that 79% of the population is fluent. Most native speakers are concentrated in the western region of the country, where the immigrant population is not as strong.

The language's speakers dwindled slightly due to the advent of Esperanto, but this has been largely reversed in recent years. The Cyrillic alphabet is used most commonly, but transliterations to the Roman alphabet are becoming more and more commonplace. Russian has had a disproportionate influence on the national slang, with many words being used by non-speakers.

Spanish

A minor language before unification, Spanish has grown considerably in Socialist Freemen. Many first-generation immigrants spoke the language, which allowed them to assimilate better with the Spanish-speaking communities in the northeast. Today 76% of the population is fluent.

Due to the great amount of variation in the Spanish language, there are many dialects spoken throughout the country. These are for the most part mutually intelligible, although every so often there are communication difficulties which must be resolved via Esperanto. An unfortunate aspect shared by Spanish speakers is "Anti-Portuguesism", a mental block which makes it very difficult to learn the similar, but different rules of the Portuguese language.

Other

There are other, non-native languages spoken in the Communes, but they are too numerous to be fully listed.

Palixian

Spoken by Palixian immigrants as well as in many towns sharing borders with the nation. Roughly 34% of the population speaks at least some of the language, though creole hybrid-languages are far more common than full fluency due to the sheer absurdity of the grammar.

Hebrew

Originally brought to the country by Jewish immigrants, Hebrew has since become spoken by a small contingent of the population. About 12% of the population speaks the language, mostly in the southeast by the Palixian and Philanchezian borders.