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The universal translator is a fictional device common to many science fiction works. Its purpose is to offer an instant translation of any language. Like hyperdrive, a universal translator is a somewhat improbable technology that is an accepted convention in science fiction stories and serves as a useful plot device. As a convention, it is used to remove the problem of translating between alien languages, unless that problem is essential to the plot. To do this in every episode when a new species or culture is encountered would consume time (especially when most of these shows have a half to one hour format) normally allotted for plot development and would potentially, across many episodes, become repetitive to the point of annoyance. Similar real-world technologies are currently far from performing as well as their fictional counterparts, although scientists continue to seek advances.* See machine translation and speech recognition for a discussion of real-world natural language processing technologies.
General As a rule, a universal translator is instantaneous, but if that language has never been recorded, there is sometimes a time delay until the translator can properly work out a translation, as in the case of Star Trek. Some writers seek greater plausibility by instead having computer translation that requires collecting a database of the new language, often by listening to radio transmissions. Usually it ignores any grammar rules between languages, giving it as perfect English. The existence of a universal translator is sometimes problematic in film and television productions from a logical perspective (for example, aliens who still speak English when no universal translator is in evidence and all characters appear to hear the appropriately translated speech instead of the original speech), and requires some suspension of disbelief when characters' mouths move in sync with the translated words and not the original language; nonetheless, it removes the need for cumbersome and potentially extensive subtitles, and it eliminates the rather unlikely supposition that every other race in the galaxy has gone to the trouble of learning English. Universal translation applies to the sciences as a means of formulating information about the cosmos in terms of many species and language. The fact that a universal translator is not obvious in much science fiction is general to the fact that perhaps ESP or alternative realities can explain the paradox that arise in order to correct errors in the subject's definition for which object exists as the translation. An efficient UT device must be able to discern the axioms of a language as to a decision to use one first, in order to communicate information effectively. This condition permeates much of the discussion about UT as a means to stimulate a reaction to formulae which are believed to predict the trends of a society comprised of communicative values. Thus, it is concise only in believing that a means to understand the context of a given phrase does occur at the same results as occurs in another language as memorative sequences. The existence of factors and terms in any UT formula represents the event horizon to which we communicate in monologue and dialogue. This allows the UT device to devise complex adaptive systems for which a database may be constructed of normal conversation. The medium of its constant values represents the system of protocol that can be arranged to support rational dialect in which beings induce the system of special squares as to an actual discussion. Such matrixes have been devised as to support a conclusive link between a code and the position of an object in space and time by its mathematical description, hence is known that a given transform will eventually relate in a similar language to manifold another as to the identity of a universal key. The existence of a UT device would eventually lead to a cold fusion reaction among others, shared by such value as a means to store and communicate information throughout the space and time of a matroid. Star Control In the Star Control computer game series, almost all races are implied to have universal translators; however, discrepancies between the ways aliens choose to translate themselves sometimes crop up and complicate communications. The VUX, for instance, are cited as having uniquely advanced skills in linguistics and are able to translate human language long before humans are capable of doing the same to the VUX. This created a problem during the first contact between Vux and humans, in a starship commanded by Captain Rand. According to Star Control: Great Battles of the Ur-Quan Conflict, Captain Rand is referred to as saying "That is one ugly sucker" when the image of a VUX first came onto his viewscreen. However, in Star Control II, Captain Rand is referred to as saying "That is the ugliest freak-face I've ever seen" to his first officer, along with joking that the VUX name stands for Very Ugly Xenoform. It is debatable which source is canon. Whichever the remark, it is implied that the VUX's advanced Universal Translator technologies conveyed the exact meaning of Captain Rand's words. The effete VUX used the insult as an excuse for hostility toward humans. Also, a new race called the Orz was introduced in Star Control II. They presumably come from another dimension, and at first contact, the ship's computer says that there are many vocal anomalies in their language resulting from their referring to concepts or phenomena for which there are no equivalents in human language. The result is dialogue that is a patchwork of ordinary words and phrases marked with In the other direction, the Supox are a race portrayed as attempting to mimic as many aspects of other races' language and culture as possible when speaking to them, to the point of referring to their own planet as "Earth", also leading to confusion. In Star Control III, the K'tang are portrayed as an intellectually inferior species using advanced technology they do not fully understand in order to intimidate people, perhaps explaining why their translators' output is littered with misspellings and nonstandard usages of words, like threatening to "crushify" the player. Along the same lines, the Daktaklakpak dialogue is highly stilted and contains many numbers and mathematical expressions, implying that, as a mechanical race, their thought processes are inherently too different from humans' to be directly translated into human language. Stargate In the television shows Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, there are no personal translation devices used, and most alien and Human cultures on other planets speak English. The makers of the show have themselves admitted this on the main SG-1 site, stating that this is to save spending ten minutes an episode on characters learning a new language (early episodes of SG-1 revealed the difficulties of attempting to write such processes into the plot). In the season 8 finale of SG-1, Moebius Part 2, the characters go back in time to 3000BC and one of them teaches English to the people there. Fans have speculated that the language could have been secretly adopted then and carried on from planet to planet, leading to today's situation in which most planets speak English, in spite of the evident lack of scientific credibility in this theory, especially considering almost every alien race encountered speaks nearly perfect, modern English. A notable exception to this rule are the Goa'uld, who occasionally speak their own language amongst themselves or when giving orders to their Jaffa. This is never subtitled, but occasionally a translation is given by a third character (usually Teal'c or Daniel Jackson), obstensively for the benefit of the human characters nearby who do not speak Goa'uld. The Asgards are also shown having their own "language", (apparently related to the Norse languages) although it is in fact English played backwards. (see Hermiod). Star Trek In Star Trek, the Universal Translator was used by Ensign Hoshi Sato, the communications officer on the Enterprise in Star Trek: Enterprise, to invent the linguacode matrix in her late 30's. It was supposedly first used in the late 21st century on Earth for the instant translation of well-known Earth languages. Gradually, with the removal of language barriers, Earth's disparate cultures came to terms of universal peace. Translations of previously unknown languages, such as those of aliens, required more difficulties to be overcome. Like most other common forms of Star Trek technology (warp drive, transporters, etc.), the Universal Translator was probably developed independently on several worlds as an inevitable requirement of space travel; certainly the Vulcans had no difficulty communicating with humans upon making "first contact" (although the Vulcans could have learned English from monitoring Earth radio transmissions). Improbably, the universal translator has been successfully used to interpret non-biological lifeform communication (in the Original Series episode Metamorphosis). In the Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) episode "The Ensigns of Command", the translator proved ineffective with the language of the Sheliak species, so the Federation had to depend on the alien's interpretation of Earth languages. It is speculated that the Sheliak communicate amongst themselves in extremely complex legalese. The TNG episode "Darmok" also illustrates another instance where the universal translator proves ineffective and unintelligible, because the Tamarian language is too deeply rooted in local metaphor to communicate ideas. Unlike virtually every other form of Federation technology, Universal Translators almost never break down. Phasers can be rendered inert, communicators blocked, shields broken through, warp cores breached, but through it all, Universal Translators make certain that everyone knows what is going on. Although they were clearly in widespread use during Captain Kirk's time (inasmuch as the crew regularly communicated with species who could not conceivably have knowledge of English), it is unclear where they were carried on personnel of that era. The episode Metamorphosis was the only time in which the device was actually seen. At this time they are also apparently less perfect in their translations into Klingon. Chekov said that they must respond personally, as the Klingons would recognize the translator. In the , the characters are seen relying on books (print books, no less) in order to communicate with a Klingon military ship. Actress Nichelle Nichols reportedly protested this scene, as she felt that Uhura, as communications officer, would be fluent in Klingon. By the 24th century, Universal Translators are built into the communicator pins worn by Starfleet personnel, although, since crew members (such as Riker in the Next Generation episode "First Contact") have spoken to newly encountered aliens even when deprived of their communicators, some other factor must also be at work. In some episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, we see a Cardassian universal translator at work. It takes some time to process an alien language, whose speakers are initially not understandable but as they continue speaking, the computer gradually learns their language and renders it into English (also known as Federation Standard). Ferengi customarily wear their Universal Translators as an implant in their ears. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy See Babel Fish Star Wars The Star Wars films feature a situation where there is a galaxywide lingua franca, Galactic Basic, which sounds remarkably like English (although the written form, Aurebesh, is distinctly different); it is unsure if the language is supposed to sound exactly like English, or if it is supposed to be "translated" into English. Unlike, for instance, the Stargate universe, the different species are shown to have their own languages (for instance, Huttese), which are 'translated' for the viewer by means of subtitles, or a third character acting as an interpreter. Futurama Almost everybody in the Futurama universe speaks English, with no explanation being given. A Universal Translator does exist, created by Professor Farnsworth, but while it can translate any language, it can only translate them into French (which, by then is a dead language; in the French translation of Futurama, the dead language is German). Unreal A Universal Translator device can be found in the game as a usable item. It is used to read mostly Nali and Skaarj inscriptions from books, screens etc. Doctor Who Using a telepathic field, the TARDIS automatically translates all comprehensible languages into a language understood by the listener/reader. It has featured as a main part of the show many times. The translator is "linked" to the Doctor, just like nearly every peice of equipment on the TARDIS, and sometimes doesn't function if the Doctor is incapacitated. The Last Starfighter Alex Rogan was taken to the Starfighter Command on Rylos, where he was later given a chip that was attached to the collar part of his shirt, so Alex could hear English from the Rylos race and other alien races. Non-device translators Most of the time, the universal translator is depicted as a machine that works with a communications monitor. An exception is the Babel fish from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a small organism that fits in the user's ear. (The Babel fish itself is a parody of the universal translator convention.) Another exception is the "translator microbes" from the Farscape series, which were probably inspired by the Babel fish. In K. A. Applegate's famous science fiction series, Animorphs, all Andalite warriors have miniature translator chips in their brains, which enable them to readily understand any alien language. This is mentioned in The Hork-Bajir Chronicles and The Andalite Chronicles. However, in the series most aliens possess "thought-speak," a type of telepathic communication, which operates more on the essence of thoughts than the words themselves; thus, an alien can thought-speak in their own language, but everyone hears it as their own. When morphed into a non-thought-speaking creature, such as a human, aliens seem to gain the ability to speak English, possibly due to a translator. In the computer game , Link learns to talk to the inch-high Minish race by eating a Jabber Nut acquired in the Minish village. Minish seems to be the only language that Jabber Nuts enable the user to speak, as otherwise the minish would eat the nuts themselves and learn to speak English. When Link is in his Minish form, he can talk to animals such as dogs, cats, chickens, cows and horses; it is unknown whether this is an effect of the Nut or of Minish DNA. In Isaac Asimov's Norby series, being bitten by a Jamyan dragon enables one to speak their language. | ||||||||
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