Klingon language and the universal translator.

[Gul Ible 0]

I've always wondered this...perhaps its been explained or you folks have some ideas. When Klingons speak, I generally assume they are speaking Klingon but humans hear english (or whatever thier native tounge is) due to the universal translator, but we also hear Klingons speak Klingon quite a bit, often in the same sentence. How is this possible? Wouldn't the universal translator translate it all? Or I am just looking waaaaay to deeply into this?

[Eratosthenes 0]

Well I haven't actually researched it (which I should..I even own some of the books that would facilitate my research...like "Computers of Star Trek" and "The Klingon Dictionary" and "The Physics of Star Trek"), but in one episode of DS9 Quark's universal Translator breaks and he has to have it fixed on the spot. His brother has to actually pull it out from deep inside his ear to work on it, then re-implant it. This [proximity to the brain and placement within the ear canal] signals to me that it the translators might be able to communicate with one another and signal what the speaker intends for the listener to hear...so if the Klingon means to insult someone in his native tongue, the translators will purposefully not translate what he said.

 

I also recall that there were a lot of non-humans that just decided to learn English from the get-go, and were thus bilingual (if not more), and in that case it might be more simple as far as what the translators do and don't translate.

Edited May 22, 2009 by Eratosthenes

[Gul Ible 0]

I like that explanation, I've been thinking about it for awhile. And I love the tractor beam sig!

[Sara_Paris 0]

I like that explanation as well however I don't believe that humans have a UT implanted inside of their ear canal's like the Ferengi.

[ensign_beedrill 0]

That's a good question. Here's an even better one:

 

If all the aliens are speaking their own languages and being translated by a chip in your brain, why do their lip movements match the English speech?

 

[Gul Ible 0]

That's a good question. Here's an even better one:

 

If all the aliens are speaking their own languages and being translated by a chip in your brain, why do their lip movements match the English speech?

 

 

 

That is a better question!

[Eratosthenes 0]

That's a good question. Here's an even better one:

 

If all the aliens are speaking their own languages and being translated by a chip in your brain, why do their lip movements match the English speech?

 

Hehe, yeah the extra time that would have taken to have the actors move their lips one way on camera then dub themselves over off-camera would not only increase costs (financially and temporally) but it would have also made the dialogues a lot less fluid and believable as some people would be talking on-set and the others just moving their lips.

 

Thanks you two for liking my explanation!

[A l t e r E g o 9]

Well I haven't actually researched it (which I should..I even own some of the books that would facilitate my research...like "Computers of Star Trek" and "The Klingon Dictionary" and "The Physics of Star Trek"), but in one episode of DS9 Quark's universal Translator breaks and he has to have it fixed on the spot. His brother has to actually pull it out from deep inside his ear to work on it, then re-implant it. This [proximity to the brain and placement within the ear canal] signals to me that it the translators might be able to communicate with one another and signal what the speaker intends for the listener to hear...so if the Klingon means to insult someone in his native tongue, the translators will purposefully not translate what he said.

 

I also recall that there were a lot of non-humans that just decided to learn English from the get-go, and were thus bilingual (if not more), and in that case it might be more simple as far as what the translators do and don't translate.

 

I like it too.

 

I like that explanation as well however I don't believe that humans have a UT implanted inside of their ear canal's like the Ferengi.

 

For humans it's implanted in their brains! Not really but it could be. Remember TOS episode (Patterns of Force) where Kirk and Spock have those tiny transponders embedded in their arms. Hearing aids today are shockingly small so in another 150 years (or sooner) it could be possible for them to exist somewhere inside the head. Add mirco-translator compatibility and there you have it.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

...but in one episode of DS9 Quark's universal Translator breaks and he has to have it fixed on the spot. His brother has to actually pull it out from deep inside his ear to work on it, then re-implant it.

 

I believe the episode that you're talking about is "Little Green Men" and the culprit of why the UT isn't working is the nuclear fusion in the atmosphere by mid 20th century atomic bomb tests. In it, all three of the Ferengi U.T.'s are on the fritz, so Rom has to borrow a hairpin from Nurse Garland in order to hit the reset button (or whatever he had to do to fix it). Once he has the hairpin he goes to Nog and pokes it into his ear, shortly after that all 3 of them are able to understand English and are able to be understood by the 'hoo-mons'.

 

The real question here, from a 'real life' stand point is why are the humans from the 20th century able to understand the Ferengi? They don't have U.T.'s, so we have to assume that not only do they translate what the owner of the U.T. hears but they translate what the owner says into whatever language needs to be heard (we see this again in Voyager's "The 37's").

 

On the topic of the Universal Translator, why does the computer of Star Trek (2009) have a hard time understanding Chekov yet presumably can understand alien languages and translate them, which would also lend itself to the question of why Chekov would be speaking English in the first place. The U.T. can translate languages, so shouldn't he be speaking Russian?

 

As for humans in the TNG era, the U.T. is their communicator. TOS era humans had to use this (either held or in their possession like in a pocket):

 

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

On the topic of the Universal Translator, why does the computer of Star Trek (2009) have a hard time understanding Chekov yet presumably can understand alien languages and translate them, which would also lend itself to the question of why Chekov would be speaking English in the first place. The U.T. can translate languages, so shouldn't he be speaking Russian?

 

As for humans in the TNG era, the U.T. is their communicator. TOS era humans had to use this (either held or in their possession like in a pocket):

 

 

Even in countries with a predominant language other than English many people speak English. Sometimes a majority of the people will speak the native language *and* English. This is especially true for European countries like Russia.

 

Or maybe he is using the Force. That UT does lok like a lightsaber you know.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

On the topic of the Universal Translator, why does the computer of Star Trek (2009) have a hard time understanding Chekov yet presumably can understand alien languages and translate them, which would also lend itself to the question of why Chekov would be speaking English in the first place. The U.T. can translate languages, so shouldn't he be speaking Russian?

 

As for humans in the TNG era, the U.T. is their communicator. TOS era humans had to use this (either held or in their possession like in a pocket):

 

 

Even in countries with a predominant language other than English many people speak English. Sometimes a majority of the people will speak the native language *and* English. This is especially true for European countries like Russia.

 

Or maybe he is using the Force. That UT does lok like a lightsaber you know.

Even still, the U.T. should be able to translate it. It can understand Klingon or Vulcan but not English spoken with a Russian accent? Yeah, I believe that...

 

The original U.T. also reminds me of a big "Beta Capsule"... if you remember what a Beta Capsule is...

[Eratosthenes 0]

The whole misunderstood Russian accent scene is the type of thing where you just have to take a step back and enjoy the humor.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

The whole misunderstood Russian accent scene is the type of thing where you just have to take a step back and enjoy the humor.

Oh, yeah of course. It was funny and that's why they did it. I have no issue with it at all, but since this was a U.T. thread I just figured I'd mention it lol

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Even still, the U.T. should be able to translate it. It can understand Klingon or Vulcan but not English spoken with a Russian accent? Yeah, I believe that...

On the other hand, it would explain why a San Francisco cop couldn't understand him.

 

The original U.T. also reminds me of a big "Beta Capsule"... if you remember what a Beta Capsule is...

Of course I do. It translates Japanese into Engrish.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Even still, the U.T. should be able to translate it. It can understand Klingon or Vulcan but not English spoken with a Russian accent? Yeah, I believe that...

On the other hand, it would explain why a San Francisco cop couldn't understand him.

 

The original U.T. also reminds me of a big "Beta Capsule"... if you remember what a Beta Capsule is...

Of course I do. It translates Japanese into Engrish.

lol I figured that since we're about the same age you'd remember that.

[Voyager recruit 0]

Even still, the U.T. should be able to translate it. It can understand Klingon or Vulcan but not English spoken with a Russian accent? Yeah, I believe that...

On the other hand, it would explain why a San Francisco cop couldn't understand him.

 

The original U.T. also reminds me of a big "Beta Capsule"... if you remember what a Beta Capsule is...

Of course I do. It translates Japanese into Engrish.

Holy Cow!DO I!? LOL-cool, Van Roy. Thanks for the Ultraman image. I used to come home from junior high back in the day, and watch the big silver guy on tv battle the latest monster..ah, the Science Patrol...yeah, sure-by our adult standards, ugh..but it has a fond place in my memory, as does Godzilla-again, many a Saturday afternoon ''Science Fiction Cinema'' outings at home with the Big Green Lizard-better than the Matt Broderick flick still, to this Classic fan....re the translator...chest-clipped devices were worn by for ex the Coalition reps in council during Season Four of Enterprise..a much smaller device than in TOS-but, could be argued, that, by Kirk's time, of course, the Federation had many more mems, and had encountered countless species by then... Edited June 20, 2009 by Voyager recruit

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Even still, the U.T. should be able to translate it. It can understand Klingon or Vulcan but not English spoken with a Russian accent? Yeah, I believe that...

On the other hand, it would explain why a San Francisco cop couldn't understand him.

Who says that the cop couldn't understand him? The cop doesn't say anything at all to him, just stares at him in disbelief as if he's thinking "We're in the middle of the cold war and this Russian is asking me to direct him toward our nuclear wessels??"

[A l t e r E g o 9]

Even still, the U.T. should be able to translate it. It can understand Klingon or Vulcan but not English spoken with a Russian accent? Yeah, I believe that...

On the other hand, it would explain why a San Francisco cop couldn't understand him.

Who says that the cop couldn't understand him? The cop doesn't say anything at all to him, just stares at him in disbelief as if he's thinking "We're in the middle of the cold war and this Russian is asking me to direct him toward our nuclear wessels??"

 

That is what I thought was going on in that scene as well.

[Takara_Soong 4]

Who says that the cop couldn't understand him? The cop doesn't say anything at all to him, just stares at him in disbelief as if he's thinking "We're in the middle of the cold war and this Russian is asking me to direct him toward our nuclear wessels??"

 

But if the cop understood him, wouldn't he ask why a Russian was asking to be directed to a nuclear wessel? Another thing that makes you go "hmm". (Showing my age with that one. )

 

I think he understood and was ignoring Chekov too but it is possible he didn't understand him.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Who says that the cop couldn't understand him? The cop doesn't say anything at all to him, just stares at him in disbelief as if he's thinking "We're in the middle of the cold war and this Russian is asking me to direct him toward our nuclear wessels??"

 

But if the cop understood him, wouldn't he ask why a Russian was asking to be directed to a nuclear wessel? Another thing that makes you go "hmm". (Showing my age with that one. )

 

I think he understood and was ignoring Chekov too but it is possible he didn't understand him.

Given that everyone else that they spoke to understood him (the one lady even gave directions) I think he understood him. The accent wasn't at all that thick. If he didn't understand him then why would he just stare at him as opposed to asking him to repeat himself or telling him "I'm sorry, I can't understand you"?

 

[Stephen of Borg 2]

he understood him. if nothing else, he probably thought this guy was trying to be a "wise guy" punk and tease him on purpose