The Languages of Star Trek

[Tracey]

Welcome to the Poll of the Week!

One of the wonders of the city where I live is that there is more than one language that is spoken by the general population on any given day. Our main language is French but there are many who speak English as well. In fact, when walking around, you may hear a group people speaking to each other in English as they sit around a table eating a dinner at a restaurant, and will easily switch to French when ordering their food from the server. And the opposite also occurs as well. This goes for most of what happens here in Montreal as most of the population is bilingual here.

So that brings us to this week's Poll of the Week question. In addition to the language you speak, what language of the Star Trek universe would you also like to know? The list above is not all inclusive and I may have omitted other languages from the Star Trek universe, so if there is a language you wish to add, just put it in the comments and we here at the Poll of the Week are eager to see which Star Trek languages would be your favorite to learn. You may choose more than one!

[Lupo]

I voted Bajoran and Romulan, but one I'd most love to know is actually Betazoid. From a few words we learned from the show it's very gentle and musical language.

[Anen]

*tries not to show her linguaphile nature* I've already picked up as much Rihannsu and Vulcan as one can so I chose Bajoran, which sounds wonderfully liturgical from what we've heard from it.

[Brek]

I often do that myself, start a phrase in one language et la terminer dans une autre langue... go figure ;p.

I'd also choose Rihannsu, since Columbia is often traveling to Romulan territory.

[Ensign Ambrosia Hayley]

I know what you mean Brek I don't speak another language fluently ond, rydw i'n siarad yn ddigon cymraeg for it to happen occasionally Particularly when I'm surrounded by people do do speak it fluently...

I went for Klingon as it's a language you can actually learn! I still think that's kinda awesome.

[Brek]

Aigle, I have always been impressed by people who can say anything at all in Welsh . Just the look of those words seem rather alien to me ;p. And I'm reminded of the name of that charming village: Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch....

[+ Johanna MacLaren]

As a Terran/Betazoid hybrid I'd like to speak the languages of both cultures. In RL I am trying to learn Gaelic, one of the Celtic languages. It is amazingly hard. I do throw in an occasional phrase for my MacLaren characters.

[T'Mihn]

Old high Vulcan and mixes from other clans dialects created Rhihannsu. Its very smooth sounding.. modern Vulcan is lyrical in its own way but when it's clipped, it can be jarring.

Well it is to my character. She thinks they tore up a beautiful language.; )

I'd learn many of those languages just to avoid having to rely on the translator earwig in my ear all the time

[+ Kamoyo Aleksandrov]

You should have included the option 'all of the above'.

[dbdrpg]

I'm an interpreter professionally: my character, Daro, is a linguist. My husband is an editor. I come from five generations of English teachers. Needless to say, I love languages. I voted for Vulcan because of its breadth. It's the basis for Rhiansuu. It's also an ancient language, so it has a richness. The more modern version would, I suspect, be a very logical language as well. I was a math major, along with psychology, so all of that appeals to me greatly.

[T'Mihn]

It is. Rhihannsu is based off old high Vulcan and other tribal dialects from the assembled people's on the ships. They added more vowels. Modern Vulcan is based off Golic dialect. Which is more clipped. Federation peoples probably heat this one the most because the Vulcans that entered Starfleet were from Gol. Dark hair, pale complexion Saverhon excluded becuase he is Neogathic.

Like Klingon, You can actually learn Vulcan to read and write in three dialects. A standard script and calligraphic script and Rhihannsu thanks to some fans that extracted parts from books over the past three to four decades.