Common Equestrian

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(Redirected from Cave language)
A sign written in Common Equestrian

Common Equestrian, or Common Language is the primary language spoken in Equestria[1] and seems to also be the dominant language spoken in other realms, such as the Dragon Lands, Infernal Lands, Abyssinia, Changeling Kingdom, Thicket, etc.

History

The history of the language is thoroughly unclear. However, the oldest instance of the language may have been recorded during the post-Long Winter era of Equestrian history when Chancellor Puddinghead wrote down a recipe for pudding in what can be assumed to be the language, as Twilight Sparkle was capable of understanding it.[2]

Other Equestrian languages

Oldest known equine language

Pinkie Pie: "Ooga Booga. Are Too Dee Too"
Applejack: "Pinkie? I don't reckon you should be teasin' 'em."
Pinkie Pie: "I'm not! I think I'm figuring out there language!...Tootie-Fruity!"
Cave pony: "Tooty-Frooty? Toot-y-Froo-Tee!?"
―Pinkie Pie and Applejack trying to communicate with the Cave ponies[source]

The earliest known possible variation of the Equestrian language was the "Cave language", the language spoken by the Cave ponies of years long ago. When Pinkie Pie and Applejack traveled back in time to the Stone Age, they were forced to deal with a Cave pony tribe. Pinkie Pie managed to, at least somewhat, understand their language and communicate with them, more-or-less befriending them and created the first ever party.

Regional languages

When Rockhoof and Mistmane were teleported to the present age due to Dr. Hooves' time machine, they spoke Old Northern Equestrian and Unicornian language respectively.[3][4]

Northern Equestrian

Northern Equestrian language, or Coltic language was an ancient, now presumably extinct language spoken in the High Desert region of Northern Equestria. The language was spoken by Rockhoof when he was transported into the future by a time machine built by Dr. Hooves. While his words were undeciphered, Lyra Heartstrings translated his phrases to be a challenge for her and Bon Bon to prove their worth.

Phrases

IC PRO LIGIAN BELUCAN EOWER, ORCNEAS!!!
SWEOTOLIAN THE EOW WEORTHFULNES WEORTHFULLIC, AC IC PRO LOGIAN SWICAN EOWER LEOF!!!

Anugyptian

Sweetie Belle uncovering a slab of Anygyptian writing

During the Anugyptian period of history, the Anygyptian writing system was practiced, though King Anubis and Queen Cleopatrot both still spoke the Common language. Their writing system was a hieroglyphic system that appeared to have elements of logographic systems too.

Olde Equestrianne

At some unknown period in history, the ponies of the Canterlot region spoke "Olde Equestrianne", a language that was also understood by Griffon merchants. The only known piece of writing in Olde Equestrianne was a bill that read that the Ponies burrowed Canterlot mountain from the Griffons, and they still owed them the Bits. However, this piece of information has been thoroughly retconned by My Little Pony: Legends of Magic, which showed that ponies even before the founding of Canterlot spoke the Common language.

In addition, literature writtne from the Age of Heroes was distinctly written in Common. While one could claim that Olde Equestrianne was just a dialect akin to Old English, it was noted in the story to be impossible to read unless one already knew the language, meaning it lacked mutual intelligibility

Old Equestrian

A snippet of the language

In earlier episodes, a script seemingly dated to the Age of Heroes was shown. It appeared to be a hieroglyphic or pictographic language of sorts, with several symbols based off images and iconography for everyday Equestrian life, such as horse heads, the moon, stars etc. Despite being alien in comparison to modern scripts, Twilight Sparkle could read it just fine. It's unknown if "Olde Equestrianne" was referring to this script or not, as Olde Equestrianne was never shown to the reader.

Modern age

A recipe for legendary pudding

In more modern times, a writing system resembling mroe of a free-form alphabetical script was formed. The oldest known piece of text written in this format was a recipe for pudding by Chancellor Puddinghead, though it was entirely possible the book was a recent translation of said text. The language itself is found on countless signs, in books and on other products.

IDW continuity

Twilight spelling "books"

In the IDW continuity, perhaps to make it easier for the artists, the writing system of Equestria has consistency been depicted to be the Latin alphabet instead of the script used in the cartoon.

Behind the scenes

Basis

The idea of a "Common Language", although a historical one, is a recurring theme in several fantasy works. Other examples of common languages include Westron in Middle-earth, and Galactic Basic in Star Wars. To us, the language may sound similar to English, but in-universe, it may sound much different. Or not, see below.

Writing inconsistencies

The Equestrian language has been subject to several inconsistencies due to its writing system. In some works, primarily comics and manga, the writing system is merely the Latin alphabet, while in others it appears to be a styalized evolution of the Latin script, which can be seen in the later episodes of the show. Sometimes the writing system appears to look almost like the Arabic script, which can usually be seen in in-universe books and scribes.

A similar thing appeared in My Little Pony Tales. In some episodes, such as "Birds of a Feather", the language was shown to be written much differently than English, but in others, it simply used the Latin script. See Ponyland language (Tales).

Existence of English

In the Human world equivalent of Equestria, English language exists, as Wallflower Blush mentions meeting Sunset Shimmer in 9th-Grade English.

References

 V - E - H - DLanguages
Equine languages Anuguptian • Common Equestrian • Cave language • Zebra language • Olde Equestrianne • Old Equestrian • Magic Runes • Northern Equestrian language • Unicornian language • Ponyland language
Human languages Human language • Sweet Breeze
Creature languages Chicken language • Animal language
Languages from the real world Afro-Asiatic languages • Hellenic languages • Latin language • French language • Italian language • Japanese language • Scythian language • Nahuatl language • Mayan languages
 V - E - H - DArticle comments (0)
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