This video is incredibly interesting. One thing you didn't mention, though, is that Ponish did change over time. In S7 there is a language called "Old Ponish" that Ponish can be assumed to have evolved out of. Star Swirl wrote in it, Twilight and Sunburst are both fluent in it, and Celestia may have been in the past. It is similar, though not identical, to Old English. Another possibility to consider is that Ponish and Old Ponish are not English and the characters are actually speaking a completely different language that has been "translated" into English (much in the same way that Westron was "translated" into English and Rohirric into Old English in The Lord of the Rings). I presume, if this is the case, that the language is not made of horse sounds since the characters of EQG speak the same language, though perhaps the portal has translating features or the humans do speak in horse sounds (they do seem to have a lot of horse imagery in their culture). Speaking of translation, perhaps Star Swirl used some sort of translation spell or device, and that is how the Pillars can easily converse with modern ponies.
Perhaps Ponish didn't change as much between Starswirl's disappearence and the mane 6's birth because Celestia was always there so having someone living for that long may keep language from changing as much.
@@cokaroach6376 That's a very good point! Since Luna seems to speak in some form of Early Modern English(or rather it's Equestrian equivalent), that must be the way ponies spoke a thousand years ago. This 'Early Modern Ponish' is significantly closer to Modern Ponish than Old English or Middle English is to Modern English, so it does seem that there has been much less change in their language over that thousand year period than in ours. Starswirl disappeared roughly a hundred years before Luna's banishment(because according to Horse Play Celestia was over 111 when Luna was banished and Starswirl dissapeared when they were foals). Therefore, since Starswirl writes in Old Ponish that means that either Ponish changed from Old Ponish to Early Modern Ponish within about hundred years, or that Starswirl wrote in an older version of Ponish than what was generally spoken at the time for some reason.
This video is incredibly interesting. One thing you didn't mention, though, is that Ponish did change over time. In S7 there is a language called "Old Ponish" that Ponish can be assumed to have evolved out of. Star Swirl wrote in it, Twilight and Sunburst are both fluent in it, and Celestia may have been in the past. It is similar, though not identical, to Old English. Another possibility to consider is that Ponish and Old Ponish are not English and the characters are actually speaking a completely different language that has been "translated" into English (much in the same way that Westron was "translated" into English and Rohirric into Old English in The Lord of the Rings). I presume, if this is the case, that the language is not made of horse sounds since the characters of EQG speak the same language, though perhaps the portal has translating features or the humans do speak in horse sounds (they do seem to have a lot of horse imagery in their culture). Speaking of translation, perhaps Star Swirl used some sort of translation spell or device, and that is how the Pillars can easily converse with modern ponies.
Perhaps Ponish didn't change as much between Starswirl's disappearence and the mane 6's birth because Celestia was always there so having someone living for that long may keep language from changing as much.
@@cokaroach6376 That's a very good point! Since Luna seems to speak in some form of Early Modern English(or rather it's Equestrian equivalent), that must be the way ponies spoke a thousand years ago. This 'Early Modern Ponish' is significantly closer to Modern Ponish than Old English or Middle English is to Modern English, so it does seem that there has been much less change in their language over that thousand year period than in ours. Starswirl disappeared roughly a hundred years before Luna's banishment(because according to Horse Play Celestia was over 111 when Luna was banished and Starswirl dissapeared when they were foals). Therefore, since Starswirl writes in Old Ponish that means that either Ponish changed from Old Ponish to Early Modern Ponish within about hundred years, or that Starswirl wrote in an older version of Ponish than what was generally spoken at the time for some reason.