Questions tagged [languages]
Questions about languages, whether alien, fantasy, or human. Always use in conjunction with the specific work tag the language appears in. If a more specific tag exists use that instead, for example, [tolkien-languages].
259
questions
2
votes
1answer
49 views
Episode titles of "Luna"
An answer to this question reminded me of the children's science fiction show Luna, shown on ITV in 1983 - 1984 (and also apparently broadcast in New Zealand). Although I've only ever seen the show on ...
13
votes
2answers
2k views
Is the language of the TVA, He Who Remains, and all of the printed material in these places in English or Allspeak?
Many years ago, I learned about Allspeak and how the Asgardians used Allspeak which was basically like a magical way that no matter how they spoke, it was translated into the vernacular of the person ...
9
votes
1answer
782 views
Pronunciation of 'Teixcalaan'
I was wondering what the correct pronunciation of the word 'Teixcalaan' (in Teixcalaanli) is. I rewrote the word using the IPA and arrived at (except using the sound 'l' for the letter 'l' instead of '...
3
votes
0answers
1k views
Does the name of Shub Niggurath contain or reference a racial slur?
I've always thought that the name of the Lovecraft deity Shub Niggurath was intended to sound vaguely Semitic, but I recently noticed that it seems to encode a certain well-known English-language ...
5
votes
1answer
251 views
Is Teixcalaanli based on a real human language?
In Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire the main planet speaks a language called Teixcalaanli. Is this language based on Aztec, Mayan, or some other real human language?
20
votes
3answers
4k views
First science fiction movie or tv show that had a complete language created for it?
I read a question about what the language used in 1951's The Day the Earth Stood Still was based upon and I guessed, apparently rightly, that it was just made up. I also of course know that there is a ...
7
votes
1answer
349 views
Is Judoonian a language, and if so is there an official translation
I've been researching linguistics to help me write a conlang, and I've taken an interest in Judoonian because of its unique use of vowel sounds.
I found a translator online, but it's clearly not ...
8
votes
2answers
2k views
How does everyone in Star Wars understand droidspeak? [duplicate]
All throughout the Star Wars movies, we see the droids emit several beeps and whirs, and the humans reply to the droid as if it were a normal conversation.
How can every character in Star Wars ...
10
votes
1answer
202 views
Society with standardized English language
This is a question based on the thinnest of clues: In the future, an Earth man visits a society that has standardized its English so that there are no irregular forms. The characters say "bes" (or "...
6
votes
1answer
268 views
Is Poe not spelling Hux in Aubresh?
At the beginning of TLJ, Poe stalls the First Order’s attack by pretending to have a bad connection:
Poe: Hux?
Hux: He can?
Poe: With an ‘H’? Skinny guy? Kind of pasty?
Hux: I can hear you. Can you ...
6
votes
0answers
209 views
Eric Flint's "Mother of Demons" Enagulishuc language rules?
I've been trying to figure out the rules for Enagulishuc, the English dialect spoken by Gukuy (and demons) in Eric Flint's 1997 first novel "Mother of Demons". The Gukuy are alien mollusks with ...
11
votes
2answers
452 views
What accent do trolls in Discworld have?
“Dis der Riot Act and you’ve all got to read it, right?
“Boys, if dere was a PhD in bein’ fick, youse wouldn’t be able to find a pencil.”
These are a couple of quotes from Detritus, the Troll in the ...
41
votes
3answers
8k views
How did Finn learn to understand Chewie so quickly?
When Finn meets Chewie, he's astounded that Han can understand him - and I can see where he's coming from: it all sounds the same to someone who didn't grow up with those phonemes, i.e. we can't tell ...
8
votes
2answers
223 views
Do non-human groups gender their ships?
From various quotes in Star Trek we can tell that Federation officers (or at least the human ones) have preserved the English language tradition of referring to ships with feminine pronouns (e.g. "I'm ...
7
votes
1answer
1k views
Is it common for protocol droids to be disallowed to translate the Sith language?
A plot point in The Rise of Skywalker is C-3PO's insistence that while he can read text written in the Sith language, his programming forbids him from translating it for others.
Is this restriction a ...
0
votes
0answers
347 views
Was the Sith language inspired by Tolkien's Black Speech?
In The Rise of Skywalker, C-3PO claims that even though he can read the Sith language, his programming forbids him from translating it for others.
This is very reminiscent of a similar scene in J. R. ...
19
votes
2answers
1k views
What in-universe sign language is the Mandalorian using, and how did he know it?
In the episode 5, the Mandalorian communicates with two Tusken Raiders using sign language.
In the Star Wars universe, what sign language is he using? Is it a special sign language to Tusken Raiders, ...
17
votes
2answers
4k views
Is the Mandalorian using out-of-universe real sign language?
In Episode 5 of The Mandalorian, Mando uses a form of sign language to communicate with two characters.
From an out of universe perspective, do any of the signs he is using correlate to ASL (American ...
10
votes
1answer
590 views
Does the Black Speech have a name?
Most sources seem to call the language of Sauron's servants the Black Speech and/or the language of Mordor, while other languages have their own names, such as Khuzdul, Quenya, and Sindarin. Does the ...
15
votes
1answer
802 views
How developed is Huttese?
Between all the dialog in A Phantom Menace and A New Hope, the various animated series (where I understand the Hutts figured prominently in some story lines) and now The Mandalorian, there has been ...
7
votes
0answers
239 views
Does "bada boom" actually refer to the crash of the Mondoshawan vessel?
I always took Leeloo's Divine Language monologue in Korben's cab to be a description of her escape from the regeneration chamber, and "bada boom" her term for the subsequent fall through the roof of ...
4
votes
0answers
48 views
What does Carolinus's letter say?
In the 1982 film The Flight of Dragons, the Green Wizard Carolinus writes a letter to his allies, the Yellow Wizard Lo Tae Zhao and the Blue Wizard Solarius. We hear the wizards reading from the ...
1
vote
1answer
414 views
What language do Sense8 speak within their cluster?
It was not clear to me while watching. Do the characters speak English with each other, or does each one simply speaks his/her own language and the others understand?
It is confusing also to ...
6
votes
0answers
442 views
Does Maz briefly speak Huttese to Han on Takodana?
Right after saying "Han, you've been running away from this fight for too long," Maz switches to something that sounds a lot like Huttese.
I hear it as:
ya kee naga wanta
Which translating ...
11
votes
1answer
346 views
Does "Vader" carry connotations of "father" to a speaker of Galactic Basic Standard?
An English speaker on Earth could be reasonably expected to be familiar with either the Dutch "vader" meaning father or the very similar German "vater", also meaning father.
Obviously German and ...
11
votes
2answers
1k views
Why doesn't the Lars family (and thus Luke) speak Huttese as their first language?
Since Tatooine is in Hutt space, and in The Phantom Menace we see basically everyone on the street on Tatooine defaulting to Huttese as their primary language, wouldn't the Lars family (and thus Luke ...
27
votes
1answer
2k views
Was the Tamarian language in "Darmok" inspired by Jack Vance's "The Asutra"?
In TNG: Darmok, Picard learns how to communicate with the Tamarians, who speak a unique language composed of snippets from their great epics. For example, "Shaka, when the walls fell" denotes failure. ...
36
votes
2answers
4k views
How is it possible that Gollum speaks Westron?
In the "Concerning Hobbits" section of the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings, after the explanation of how the three breeds of Hobbits gradually moved to Eriador it says
“in those days also they ...
8
votes
1answer
726 views
What does this reportedly Klingon text say in Revenge of the Sith?
This answer has some allegedly Klingon writing. Is it Klingon? If so, what does it say?
14
votes
3answers
5k views
Does this website provide consistent translation into Wookiee?
I was wondering if the website Wookie Translator has any logic behind it or if it’s just a guy smashing his face against a keyboard.
12
votes
2answers
3k views
How many languages does Aquaman speak?
According to the closed captioning for the DVD of Aquaman (2018), Aquaman himself (in addition to English), speaks some lines in Russian, Italian, and Maori, implying that he knows at least some of ...
0
votes
0answers
81 views
Are there any other real life languages in Star Wars? [duplicate]
As this question established, the Hindi language does actually exist in the Star Wars universe, likely as the Sriluurian language. Of course there is also the fact that almost everyone speaks Basic, ...
9
votes
1answer
654 views
Is the origin of the words 'valar' and 'Valyrian' the same?
In the series A Song of Ice and Fire, we know the phrases 'valar morghulis' and 'valar dohaeris' mean 'all men must die' and 'all men must serve', respectively. It immediately follows that 'valar' ...
1
vote
0answers
145 views
How do I learn the Quenya Dialect? [duplicate]
Quenya, the popular Elvish language is used in all The Lord of the Rings books and movies and appears very beautiful due to its flowing letters and has a charismatic visual appeal.
How would I go ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views
Can Muggles learn Parseltongue?
While discussing this question, the conclusion was that apart from using Parseltongue to open the gate to the Chamber of Secrets, Harry didn't really use any magic and he might as well have been a ...
6
votes
1answer
283 views
In The Bells of St John, do the symbols used by the Great Intelligence have any meaning?
They appear as mostly gibberish symbols on screen, as the names of the wifi access points or the code for the computer program run by and for the Great Intelligence, and I was wondering if they have ...
3
votes
1answer
333 views
In the movie Arrival, were the visitors "playing dumb"?
It appears a clever trick the visitors were using...
2
votes
0answers
298 views
How many languages does the average Starfleet officer speak?
In Star Trek VI, Uhura attempts to speak Klingon without recourse to the Universal Translator because she is trying to impersonate a Klingon and fears that using the Universal Translator would "out" ...
5
votes
1answer
510 views
Does every Lantern Color have its own language like the Indigo Lanterns?
I was reading volume 2 of Green Lanterns (DC Rebirth [the series about Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz]) and noticed that, when he was in compassion mode (the spoiler is just the antagonist of the arc, ...
20
votes
2answers
3k views
How did the Gungans learn to speak Galactic Basic?
In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are brought to Otoh Gunga to meet the Gungans. Fortunately for them, all of them speak Galactic Basic (although with their distinctive speech ...
8
votes
4answers
2k views
How many languages are there in Star Wars?
How many languages are there in Star Wars canon and is there any list of their names and maybe examples?
P. S. Droid language counts too.
14
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the name of the Black Panther persona in the Wakandan language(s)?
The phrase "Black Panther" is the common phrasing of the title that is conferred upon the ruler of Wakanda, along with their position as a warrior and protector of their people. However, as far as I'...
37
votes
4answers
8k views
How does “Valar morghulis” translate to “all men must die”?
Near as I can tell from the Valyrian language wiki, it consists of the noun “man” in the collective and the verb “die” in the present active infinite. Essentially, “men collectively (to/do) die.” I do ...
22
votes
2answers
9k views
Where / How did Han Solo learn to speak / understand Shyriiwook?
In the film Solo: A Star Wars Story, Han Solo appears to already speak and understand Shyriiwook. Where / how did he acquire this ability?
Disney canon will be the accepted answer, but EU answers ...
1
vote
0answers
170 views
How does one learn droid binary? [duplicate]
How does someone learn droid binary? It seems simple, but honestly, I don't see how anyone could (easily) learn how to understand droid binary. It seems to be just beeps and whistles. How do you say ...
4
votes
2answers
4k views
In The Expanse's Belter Language, what is this sign [pressed pointing finger] telling?
In "The Expanse" the belter language consists of words and signs. While getting interrogated on the martian ship "Donnager" (Season 1, Episode 3 "Remember the Cant"), Naomi shows this sign:
...
4
votes
2answers
449 views
What indications are there that there are other Terran languages in common use in Star Trek?
One of the central issues in this question:
Is Picard actually fluent in French?
is the extent to which French is in daily use anywhere. Various commenters questioned what evidence I would interpret ...
52
votes
6answers
14k views
Is Picard actually fluent in French?
Let me throw out a few examples and potential evidence either way:
We have heard Picard utter isolated words and phrases in French ("merde", "maman") and, in "11001001":
...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
Have we ever encountered any Betazoid word besides "Imzadi"?
Like the question says. We know the word Imzadi meaning something like Beloved.
But have we ever encountered any other word?
(Is it possible it's literally the least-developed (>0) language from a ...
12
votes
1answer
1k views
What's the Wakandan word for Vibranium?
"Vibranium" is a coined word in English, based on the word "vibration", which in turn has a Latin base.
I am blindly assuming that when it was originally found in Wakanda, that's not what it was ...
