Ponish

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Ponish
Eohwisc
Pronunciation[[IPA for Ponish|ɤ:iʃ]]
Created byThe Ramosian
Date2024
SettingEquestria
Native toEquestria
Early form
Official status
Official language in
Equestria
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Ponish (/ˈpoʊ.nɪʃ/ POH-nish, or /ˈpɔː.nɪʃ/, [ɤ:iʃ]) is a West Germanic language spoken by the Equestrians in in Equestria. It developed out of Middle Ponish around 400 CE.[1] Unlike Old Ponish, is is no mention of Ponish in the Friendship is Magic Series as most of the dialouge in the show is in English. Even with this limitation, it is a popular headcanon the the show itself is "dubbed" into English from Ponish. Around 50 million ponies speak Ponish worldwide.

Etymology

The autoglossonym of Ponish, Eohwisc, means 'pertaining to the ponies', the name comes from Old Ponish Eohwisċ, which the Proto-West-Germanic word *ehw, from earlier Proto-Germanic *ehwaz.

History

In-universe

The first records of Ponish, known as Old Ponish, evolved from a group of Anglo-Frisian dialects around what is modern day Manehattan. Middle Ponish began began in 100 CE just a few centuries after Luna's banishment to the moon. There, French and Latin Influenced the language, with many borrowings, mostly being for scientific terms. Modern Ponish arose buring 400 CE with the most notale sound change being w-umlaut[2]. Around 1500 CE[3]. Ponish split into 3 languages: Niosh, Havougish, and Wealdish. This split was primarily caused by the 3 pony species to seperate an isolate each other,

Out-of-character

Phonology

Consonant phonemes
Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ*
Plosive p b t d k ɡ
Affricate
Fricative f θ s ʃ x h
Approximant Central j w
Lateral l
Trill r

Grammar

Articles

Ponish, like most West Germanic languages, has both the definate and indefinate article. Like English, Ponish only has one form for both articles: ain for the indefinate and se for the definate.

Demonstratives

Nouns

Ponish grammar is almost typical of the grammar of Germanic languages in general. Nouns are conjucate by cases (nominative, accusative, genitive). Unlike Old Ponish, Ponish does not have gender.

Examples:

Declension paradigm in Ponish:

Number Case a-stem u-stem o-stem i-stem r-stem
Singular nom. dag luft raid saiw brooþer
acc. dag luft raida saiw brooþar
gen. dagas lofto raid saiw brooþur
Plural nom. daga liftiw raida saiwi brooþar
acc. daga luftu raida saiwi brooþar
gen. daga liftiwa raida saiwja brooþra

Verbs

Ponish, like other Germanic lanuages, can be clessified into 2 main categories, being weak and strong.

Conjugation

Below, the weak verb luboon "to love" and the strong verb heolpan "to help" are conjugated.

Strong verbs Weak verbs
Present Past Present Past
ic heolp healp luba lubooda
þuu heolpir hulp luboos luboodes
hi/hja/hit hulpid healp lubooþ luboode
wi heolpum hulpum luboom luboodum
ii heolpid hulpud lubooþ luboodud
hii/hja heolpand hulpun lubaaþ luboodun

Pronouns

Personal pronouns of Standard Ponish
Number Case 1st person 2st person 3rd person
masculine feminine neuter
Singular nom. ic þuu hi hja hit
acc. mi þi hina hjo hit
gen. miin þiin hes heo hes
Plural nom. wi ii hii hja hja
acc. uus aiw hin hjo hja
gen. uuser aiw hea hea hea

Ajectives

Numerals

Verbs

Orthography

Ponish does not have an official in-universe orthography, For Equestria is not on Earth, therfore it is unlikely it uses Latin or a version of Germanic Runes. Any version of conscripts within Equestria are mostly inconsistant[4]. For meta purposes, the Ponish language uses a modified version of the Latin alphabet.

Letters of the Ponish Alpabet
IPA [æ] [b] [k] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h], [x] [i] [ɑi] [j] [l] [m] [n] [ŋ] [o] [p] [r] [s] [t] [θ] [u] [w]
Ponish a b c d e f g h i ii j l m n ng o p r s t þ u w
Futhark

The spelling system, or orthography, of Ponish is complex, with phonemes represente by di or trigraphs. Ponish has not gone through a spelling reform.

Samples

Mare in the Moon

Ponish

Se Mearhe in þan Maanan, myt fram ealden eohwisc tiiman.

Ain wealfbull eohw hwaa winscide wealdan Eohwland, defete bii se Firisþingo Aileodi and cajje in þan maanan. Lejjendas sageeþ un se langemest dag þuusunjja jaar, se steorran waill hailpid in hesa fleoh, and hja waill sceaweeþ neahttiima eac.

English
The Mare in the Moon,
myth from olden pony times.

A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon.
Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year,
the stars will aid in her escape,
and she will bring about nighttime eternal

Notes & References

  1. ^ Celestial Era (0 CE is during Luna's Banishment to the moon.
  2. ^ A spelling quirk of Ponish where a w-vowel combination causes umlaut to the vowel, ex. wi is pronounced /y/, aiw is prounounced /ʏ/, an wea is pronouned /wɞ/.
  3. ^ There is no exact date for this, since Hasbro has not sai a exact time skip frm G4 to G5.
  4. ^ the Alphabet of the Unicornsis an insctance which was introuced in the start of the show, way before Old Ponish was introduced in season 7, aroun this time it was assumed Ponish was a priori https://mlpforums.com/topic/45522-alphabet-of-the-unicorns/