//------------------------------//
// Ar Sphilar 
// Story: The Prelude, Illuminate the Shadows Book 1 
// by SaphireTsuki 
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Ar Sphilar is a language unique to the Changeling species. Unlike other languages, it is not solely linguistic, nor is it divorced from the magic of it's people. It appears to be distinctly tied to this magic, specifically the form of magic called the Hive Link. The discussion regarding their telepathy, or perhaps shared memory would be a better term, is best saved for a more in depth study later. What we must note is that the Hive Link allows for more in depth communication than any purely linguistic language could, and this is only compounded by the changeling's empathic abilities as well.

Ar Sphilar, when translated, means "The Heart," or, perhaps, "The Mind," or maybe even "The Soul." In truth, it means all of these things, and can refer to any one specifically. There are several layers of this language, the most common is Ar Sphilar as "The Mind," which is to say that which is spoken with another species. This form uses a base emotion, taken from one of their various understandings, and uses that as the base emotion for the language. For example, when referring to one's An Bale  they might say "E-That is a matter for the An Bale". The E refers to a specific emotional state, though which is somewhat subjective and intuitive, and forming the emotional base for the rest of the sentence. It is worth noting that often changelings, when not used to species not under their wing, will even continue to use these complex prefixes even when speaking Equish or some other language that is not their own.

"The Heart" is spoken with other changelings, and generally serves much as a more nuanced and clearer version of the prefixes. These are generally called Emotion Words,  they form the base of true Ar Sphilar. In "The Heart" the Emotion Words are spoken first, providing a detailed idea of how the changeling is feeling about the sentence in particular, or situation in general. The rest of the language is a far bit more complex, including a confusing ordering system where the object of a sentence is always last. It is entirely in the first person, each statement having the speaker as the origin and referring to the speaker as a given, and it's tense is in the eternal. That is to say, there is no past, present, or moment... each verb, adverb, and adjective are treated as though they have always been, and will always be.

"The Soul" appears to be a mix of a more complex version of "The Heart" and "The Mind," it could be termed, according to them, as being along a class line. It is spoken solely within one's own Hive Link. The Queen's version of "The Soul" is closer to "The Mind" with dizzying complexity and nuance, while the drones and other royals appear to use some form of compacted, highly emotive version of "The Heart." To them it is as intelligible as Equish, and they often have no trouble translating what is said within to Equish, even if the emotive transmission is diminished. No pony will ever hear this language, especially as the conversation is largely instinctive. 

It may be beyond anypony's ability to understand the complexities of the Changeling's language, but it is clear by this very brief overview that the expression of the core emotion somepony wishes to convey is at the core of it's conventions. It is truly fascinating...



Excerpt from "An Overview of the Languages of Equis"