Shandora Ruin Poneglyph

• conlang image
• by Budkalōn
• on Dec 30, 2023
• • #fanlang
  • #one piece

Back with the Poneglyph Fanlang!

After previously translating Roger's words on the Shandora Grand Bell, I'm now attempting a full translation of another Poneglyph. In the canon manga, only two Poneglyphs have been fully translated. This one appears in Chapter 272, "Play," and was discovered by Robin

I also analyzed the "true intention" part and one of the glyph:

If you're familiar with Japanese, you might notice that the sentence structure follows Japanese syntax (SOV). The base language used is Old Egyptian, incorporating a triconsonantal root system similar to Arabic

Here are some recognizable words if you know Japanese:

• okkaret = kokoro (heart)
• enṓganopet = ogane (big bell)

You might also notice that the same sound can be represented by completely different glyphs. This is because the Poneglyph system functions similarly to Maya script or Rongorongo script, where different glyphs for the same sound exist for aesthetic purposes. Another reason for these complex sound-to-glyph correspondences is to make Poneglyphs difficult to read and decipher--a way to keep their secrets hidden from the government.

But let's be real... the main reason for this is that Poneglyph is essentially a gibberish-type conlang. It seems like Oda didn't create a fully functional conlang and may have just scribbled down the script.

Or maybe... Oda used a cipher conlang?

Who knows