Developing a language for Equestria

[CloudFyre 848]

I've spent the last few months developing concepts for an HiE fic that I'm writing, and one event that sometimes shows up in other fics is the challenge of a language barrier. While they're a great read, I haven't seen anypony tackle the challenge of developing Equestria's language. Thus, I'm experimenting with designing a framework for what would be a *possible* iteration of Equestria's language.

 

I'd like to know: when you attempt to envision a unique language for Equestria, what comes to mind? Is it choppy? Fluid? Soft? Thick? Etc.

 

 

I've spent a while reading up on the subject of languages and how they're comprised, and the jargon is quite heavy. I'm not sure if I'll design every aspect of the language, but I'd definitely like to get a solid start. To get a fully working version would take months of effort, and as I mentioned before, this is just for a fanfic, so I probably won't get a fully speakable/writable version. This is merely a concept.

 

 

 

(You don't have to read any further, I just wanted to see what you guys think that the ponies' native language would sound like. From here on out, it's more of a Language 101 + headcanon that I've been developing.)

 

Here are some language basics:

 

Vowels: Virtually every language in existence has at least 3 vowels to it, i, a, and u. From there, more can be added to ease in both the pronunciation differences and the writing aspect. (For example, !Xu, an African language, has 24, but that makes for more confusing translations.) Generally, 3-7 is a good number to work with.

 

Consonants: The number of possible consonants one can create is virtually endless, but it's good to keep the number down on this one as well, and rely on combinations of letters (known as diagraphs) to change the sound of a word or phrase. To make pronunciation translations easier, one can use special characters such as "ë" or "å" to denote a unique sound.

 

Relative Synthetics Scale:

Analytic vs. synthetic is more of a reference point than anything else. Languages are simply more or less synthetic than one another. If a language is more analytic, then it requires other words near it to give it some direction. Chinese words will often be rather isolated on their own, but synthetic languages will have very specific meanings to them. (English, as I have found, is a weird hybrid of just about everything.)

 

Isolating vs. Agglutinating vs. Inflecting Structure:

At it's basics, Isolation loses most of the difficult structure work at the cost of long sentences and very, very particular order for sentences. Agglutination is simply planning words and prefixes/suffixes, and combining them to get the desired result. ("Good" = desirable, "un-" + "good" = "not desirable") Inflection produces short words and sentences, but requires planning all inflections, and combinations of inflections ahead of time in order to keep things straight.

 

I'm finding this topic fascinating! I could continue, but I'll let you soak that in first I guess.

 

 

Equestria's Language Prototype:

I'll start with my head-canon basics:

 

Equestria is a relatively peaceful place but with a high-octane environment. Things happen quickly, and thus characters need to communicate back and forth at a relatively fast pace.

 

It would need to be a language with a very fluid sound to it; a case where words flow smoothly into one another for fast dictation. Thus, we would need either an agglutinating or a inflecting language type. I'm thinking that an agglutinating language would be simpler to compose, since inflection type languages require more changes within the words, more agreement between gender/numerical identifiers, and generally requires more exceptions to the ground rules.

 

As for the letters, fluidity occurs more often with more vowels, so sticking with the English basics + 1 or 2 would help in pronunciation.

 

Speed requires that breaks in sound (known as stops) would need to be toned town, and that smoother sounds would need to become the mainstay. For example, "k" as in "king" and "t" as in "top" have very abrupt starts, which makes stringing words together slightly slower. (You have to stop the flow of air through your mouth, and then start it back up again. The time lag is minimal, but it does exist.)

 

Finally, since some consonants must be phased down, others must become more common. The long sounds of "s" "v" "ch" "h" "l" and "r" happen to be good examples of low-stress sounds, so I may tend to use those more.

 

 

Anyhow, I just wanted to see what you guys thought.

 

(Note: Some explanations were simplified from Pablo Flores' 22,000 word article "How to create a Language", partly based on Mark Rosenfelder's "Language Construction Kit")

Edited November 13, 2012 by CloudFyre

[Acoustic Cloud 2,202]

I like the thought...

P.S. I've done this many times, I have like 3 languages.

 

But as for the rules and such, I like the style, reminds me of Ted Dekker's "Black, Red, White, Green" series. With a milder english.

But One note... Remember the CMC episode where they do the column? Well when it shows the column, you can see a jumbled up typing. But that would give you the typeface/letters to replace with those sounds you have going on. Just a thought.

[Rainbow Skywalker 642]

I would've thought that every pony in Equestria spoke English considering, well, that's what they speak on the show (or at least what we hear).

 

It should definitely be more flowing of a language though. Smooth feel yet not a lot of whisper sounds like "h". It just seems that ponies are more regal creatures and should have a more fancy dialect. Just saying.

[Acoustic Cloud 2,202]

I would've thought that every pony in Equestria spoke English considering, well, that's what they speak on the show (or at least what we hear).

 

It should definitely be more flowing of a language though. Smooth feel yet not a lot of whisper sounds like "h". It just seems that ponies are more regal creatures and should have a more fancy dialect. Just saying.

 

Yeah, Like if you want that english feel with a smooth flowing language, you could base it off of middle english (before shakespeare)

it has a good set of vowel:consonant ratio.

"saw a fayr maydyn syttyn and synge,

Sche lullyd a lytyl chyld, a swete lordyng,"

Y's make a nice exception to keep the feel soft.

[AegisReflector 886]

English is the "universal language" when it comes to entertainment mediums like movies or cartoons that expand outside the realms of Earth. I'd say we should just stick with that just so it makes things a hell of a lot easier lol.

[CloudFyre 848]

I like the thought...

P.S. I've done this many times, I have like 3 languages.

 

But as for the rules and such, I like the style, reminds me of Ted Dekker's "Black, Red, White, Green" series. With a milder english.

 

Nice! I've never done this before. At first, this style kind of reminded me of Tolkeins Elven language - it's quite soft and easy to dictate.

 

But that would give you the typeface/letters to replace with those sounds you have going on. Just a thought.

 

True, but most languages have a cross-language spelling as well, in order to be compliant with a different language's rules. I could probably skip the process of designing/integrating an entirely new character set if I needed to.

 

English is the "universal language" when it comes to entertainment mediums like movies or cartoons that expand outside the realms of Earth. I'd say we should just stick with that just so it makes things a hell of a lot easier lol.

 

Oh come now, what fun is that?

[AegisReflector 886]

Haha, I know it's for fun. It just seems it takes a lot of effort to make a new language that when really, everypony in Equestria speaks our own language lol.

 

Although, I wouldn't mind an episode where there were some kind of ponyspeak.

[Acoustic Cloud 2,202]

English is the "universal language" when it comes to entertainment mediums like movies or cartoons that expand outside the realms of Earth. I'd say we should just stick with that just so it makes things a hell of a lot easier lol.

 

Actually the only thing English is the universal language of is Airways. Every pilot/radio has to speak english.

Nice! I've never done this before. At first, this style kind of reminded me of Tolkeins Elven language - it's quite soft and easy to dictate.

 

LOL, that's exactly what i based the first one off of, Tengwar...

 

Haha, I know it's for fun. It just seems it takes a lot of effort to make a new language that when really, everypony in Equestria speaks our own language lol.

 

Although, I wouldn't mind an episode where there were some kind of ponyspeak.

 

*Neigh, Whinny*

They do that in the show all the time, just got to keep an eye on it.

Especially Twi and Rarity, they do that horse ppfft thing

[Master Blade the Bearded 112]

 

Yeah, Like if you want that english feel with a smooth flowing language, you could base it off of middle english (before shakespeare)

it has a good set of vowel:consonant ratio.

"saw a fayr maydyn syttyn and synge,

Sche lullyd a lytyl chyld, a swete lordyng,"

Y's make a nice exception to keep the feel soft.

 

Oh Beowulf, how Dashey loves thee... I pulled what you did, but not quite. I didn't see that ths was you even after the Ted Dekker reference. I also like the flow and sound of middle english (as you know). It would make a good base for a new language, with how softly it flows. It is also much more of a romantic language than modern english.

[Nohbdy 4,108]

Fascinating idea. While it's certainly easier to simply accept English as the Equestrian language, it's definitely more interesting (IMO) to consider that they might be speaking a totally different one. After all, Tolkien did create his own languages in his Middle Earth universe.

 

One thing that may need to be considered, however, is the anatomy of the Equestrians. The majority of the population is composed of ponies. I can't claim to be an expert on equines, but there is a clear difference in the vocal structures of humans and horses. That's disregarding the myriad of different species speaking in what is presumably the same language.

 

Of course, that's probably an unimportant factor, since it'll be pretty much impossible to develop a language understandable to humans that way. Because, you know:

 

[Acoustic Cloud 2,202]

Oh Beowulf, how Dashey loves thee... I pulled what you did, but not quite. I didn't see that ths was you even after the Ted Dekker reference. I also like the flow and sound of middle english (as you know). It would make a good base for a new language, with how softly it flows. It is also much more of a romantic language than modern english.

 

1. Not beowulf "lullay myn lyking" this is like 10-13th century, not 7th.

As for this being me, yes it is.

And every language is more romantic than english. Even German.

 

EDIT: but yes, oh how I love beowulf.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Rainbow Dashey

[Prof. Yana 16]

I'm going to stick to my theory of they have a sort of reverse babel fish (from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), where instead of all of the languages being translated when they reach you, their voices are already translated, by the time they get to you.

[CloudFyre 848]

I'm going to stick to my theory of they have a sort of reverse babel fish (from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), where instead of all of the languages being translated when they reach you, their voices are already translated, by the time they get to you.

 

I'm happy that they speak English in the show, but you've got to imagine once and a while! That's where half of the fun comes from! (And where most of our fanfics/fanart comes from as well!)