Pohnpeian or Ponapean is a Micronesian language

Micronesian languages

The family of Micronesian languages is a branch of the Oceanic languages. It consists of twenty languages, the nineteen Micronesian Proper languages and Nauruan...

 spoken mostly on the island of Pohnpei

Pohnpei

Not to be confused with Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79.Pohnpei "upon a stone altar " is the name of one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia , situated among the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group...

 and the Caroline Islands. Pohnpeian has about 22,000 speakers. It is the major language of Pohnpei

Pohnpei

Not to be confused with Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79.Pohnpei "upon a stone altar " is the name of one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia , situated among the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group...

 State (Federated States of Micronesia

Federated States of Micronesia

The Federated States of Micronesia or FSM is an independent, sovereign island nation, made up of four states from west to east: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. It comprises approximately 607 islands with c...

). Ngatikese, Pingelapese and Mokilese are counted as dialects of Pohnpeian or as closely related languages. Pohnpeian has a 'high language' with a partly separate vocabulary, used in speaking about people of high rank. Pohnpeian spelling uses -h to mark a long vowel, rather like German: dohl 'mountain'. German missionaries designed the orthography.