So what possessed the writers to have speak one like of Russian?

[enterprisecvn65]

So I can't be 100% accurate about this but I think in TOS Chekov referred to Russian sayings or may have used some line of Russian poetry when he was with some girl or something. But I'm almost positive there was never an instance where he spoke Russian in a regular dialogue context. I know he didn't in TMP or TWOK, TVH, TFF and TUC.

But in TSFS after Kirk leaves to investigate the alarm in Spock's quarters, that Chekov sealed personally, Chekov with Scotty over his shoulder looks at the alarm screen and says something in Russian which I guess translates roughly to "I'm not seeing things....it's right there" referring to the alarm screen.

So why did the writers, after nearly 20 years of having him speaking just English and never having him do so again, decide that it was necessary to have Chekov speak a line of Russian for that ONE scene?

I could understand if it had been an established character trait that Chekov, whenever he was surprised, nervous, scared, excited....etc. sometimes started speaking in Russian, but that was never a trait of his.

I know some people will say he was so surprised by the alarm that he may have just spoke Russian without realizing it......But really was the alarm THAT stressful and/or surprising. I mean sure noone was supposed to go into Spock's quarters, but someone breaking down a door is hardly a rare feat.

Wouldn't Chekov be more surprised and/or stressed in situations like: When he got fried by electricity in TMP, When he realized he was on the Botany Bay, got into an argument with Khan and ultimately had eels put in his brain in TWOK, when he was arrested and interrogated when he was on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger posing as the Enterprise in TVH, or on the one episode of TOS where they were in the old west and he got into a heated argument with the Earps and eventually got shot.

Seems to me that all of those situations are much more liable to make Chekov revert to speaking Russian out of stress or surprise than a security alarm several decks away.....But apparently not.

It's even more odd when you realize that Sulu never spoke Japanese, Spock never spoke Vulcan except with other Vulcans and apparently Uhura knew Swahili or some African language and she never spoke it.

Finally why would Chekov say it when Scotty was the only person around? Did he think Scotty knew Russian and would respond? Was Chekov teaching Scotty Russian in their spare time and thought it would be a good time to test him.

It was just so random.....especially considering the fact they never had him do it again.

 

[Cyke101]

Sulu was American born, though, straight from San Francisco. Even today, there are many Asian Americans who simply don't speak an Asian language, simply because of the environment they're in (esp. in multi-generational American homes -- the more established the family history in America, the less likely that their family's immigrant language will be adopted, and a deleted scene after TSFS in TVH established that Sulu's family was in San Francisco for over 400 years. That's the nature of immigrating and setting down your roots).

I imagine the case could be the same for Uhura. And Spock, being Vulcan, is deliberate in nearly everything he does.

Chekov, however, is a Russian native and darn proud of it. He clearly came from a Russian speaking household or community and it's stuck with him ever since. If anything, Russian is still his first language, and people think in their first languages (being able to think automatically in more than one language -- now that's tricky).

It's down to personal choice, and Chekov blurting out Russian at that moment is no less valid than if he decided to do it the first time on screen any time before or after that.

Though, funny thing is, Takei is perfectly fluent in Japanese. The writers just never thought to ask him to speak it or the reasons why language is used, and it's probably the same reason why they had Chekov blurt out Russian that one time. On a side note, Anton Yelchin is also fluent in Russian, and so growing up in a Russian household informed the way he speaks Chekov's accent.

 

[Orphalesion]

Because being Russian was his only defined character trait after he was too old to be "the young one"?

 

[enterprisecvn65]

Sulu was American born, though, straight from San Francisco. Even today, there are many Asian Americans who simply don't speak an Asian language, simply because of the environment they're in (esp. in multi-generational American homes -- the more established the family history in America, the less likely that their family's non-native language will be adopted, and a deleted scene after TSFS in TVH established that Sulu's family was in San Francisco for over 400 years. That's the nature of immigrating and setting down your roots).

I imagine the case could be the same for Uhura. And Spock, being Vulcan, is deliberate in nearly everything he does.

Chekov, however, is a Russian native and darn proud of it. He clearly came from a Russian speaking household or community and it's stuck with him ever since. If anything, Russian is still his first language, and people think in their first languages (being able to think automatically in more than one language -- now that's tricky).

It's down to personal choice, and Chekov blurting out Russian at that moment is no less valid than if he decided to do it the first time on screen any time before or after that.

Though, funny thing is, Takei is perfectly fluent in Japanese. The writers just never thought to ask him to speak it or the reasons why language is used, and it's probably the same reason why they had Chekov blurt out Russian that one time. On a side note, Anton Yelchin is also fluent in Russian, and so growing up in a Russian household informed the way he speaks Chekov's accent.

I agree about Chekov's Russian pride. I'm just saying if that was a character trait the writers wanted to show by that sometimes he speaks Russian it would have resonated a little more with the audience if he did on occasion, not just a single time over something, while a little surprising, wasn't exactly the most threatening of situations.

It's more a question to me of why the writers decided after 20 years "Hey let's have Chekov speak one line of Russian to Scotty" as if they were really trying to drive home the point he was Russian.......and then in the 3 TOS movies after that, plus his cameo in Generations.......they never did it again.

I personally think it would have been cool if they had incorporated it as a character trait that in some high tension or excitement moments Chekov would sometimes revert to speaking Russian. Just doing it once though seemed kind of contrived and pointless.

 

[Firebird]

It could be explained by the universal translator was always on when Chekov was speaking, so we heard him speak English. The ship was damaged following the attack from Khan, so the universal translator must've been going in and out - hence why Chekov didn't realize he was speaking Russian to Scotty.

Or, it was an interesting character moment to throw into the film to give Walter Koenig something interesting to do, without any respect to logic, canon, or feasibility.

 

[Cyke101]

Sulu was American born, though, straight from San Francisco. Even today, there are many Asian Americans who simply don't speak an Asian language, simply because of the environment they're in (esp. in multi-generational American homes -- the more established the family history in America, the less likely that their family's non-native language will be adopted, and a deleted scene after TSFS in TVH established that Sulu's family was in San Francisco for over 400 years. That's the nature of immigrating and setting down your roots).

I imagine the case could be the same for Uhura. And Spock, being Vulcan, is deliberate in nearly everything he does.

Chekov, however, is a Russian native and darn proud of it. He clearly came from a Russian speaking household or community and it's stuck with him ever since. If anything, Russian is still his first language, and people think in their first languages (being able to think automatically in more than one language -- now that's tricky).

It's down to personal choice, and Chekov blurting out Russian at that moment is no less valid than if he decided to do it the first time on screen any time before or after that.

Though, funny thing is, Takei is perfectly fluent in Japanese. The writers just never thought to ask him to speak it or the reasons why language is used, and it's probably the same reason why they had Chekov blurt out Russian that one time. On a side note, Anton Yelchin is also fluent in Russian, and so growing up in a Russian household informed the way he speaks Chekov's accent.

I agree about Chekov's Russian pride. I'm just saying if that was a character trait the writers wanted to show by that sometimes he speaks Russian it would have resonated a little more with the audience if he did on occasion, not just a single time over something, while a little surprising, wasn't exactly the most threatening of situations.

It's more a question to me of why the writers decided after 20 years "Hey let's have Chekov speak one line of Russian to Scotty" as if they were really trying to drive home the point he was Russian.......and then in the 3 TOS movies after that, plus his cameo in Generations.......they never did it again.

I personally think it would have been cool if they had incorporated it as a character trait that in some high tension or excitement moments Chekov would sometimes revert to speaking Russian. Just doing it once though seemed kind of contrived and pointless.

Now that I think about it, it could be a Nimoy thing. He tends to go more for character moments than many other Trek writers and directors, being on both sides of the camera. Whatever reason comes to his mind, I imagine the Russianness could have been the first thing he sees when he pictures Chekov.

 

[enterprisecvn65]

Sulu was American born, though, straight from San Francisco. Even today, there are many Asian Americans who simply don't speak an Asian language, simply because of the environment they're in (esp. in multi-generational American homes -- the more established the family history in America, the less likely that their family's non-native language will be adopted, and a deleted scene after TSFS in TVH established that Sulu's family was in San Francisco for over 400 years. That's the nature of immigrating and setting down your roots).

I imagine the case could be the same for Uhura. And Spock, being Vulcan, is deliberate in nearly everything he does.

Chekov, however, is a Russian native and darn proud of it. He clearly came from a Russian speaking household or community and it's stuck with him ever since. If anything, Russian is still his first language, and people think in their first languages (being able to think automatically in more than one language -- now that's tricky).

It's down to personal choice, and Chekov blurting out Russian at that moment is no less valid than if he decided to do it the first time on screen any time before or after that.

Though, funny thing is, Takei is perfectly fluent in Japanese. The writers just never thought to ask him to speak it or the reasons why language is used, and it's probably the same reason why they had Chekov blurt out Russian that one time. On a side note, Anton Yelchin is also fluent in Russian, and so growing up in a Russian household informed the way he speaks Chekov's accent.

I agree about Chekov's Russian pride. I'm just saying if that was a character trait the writers wanted to show by that sometimes he speaks Russian it would have resonated a little more with the audience if he did on occasion, not just a single time over something, while a little surprising, wasn't exactly the most threatening of situations.

It's more a question to me of why the writers decided after 20 years "Hey let's have Chekov speak one line of Russian to Scotty" as if they were really trying to drive home the point he was Russian.......and then in the 3 TOS movies after that, plus his cameo in Generations.......they never did it again.

I personally think it would have been cool if they had incorporated it as a character trait that in some high tension or excitement moments Chekov would sometimes revert to speaking Russian. Just doing it once though seemed kind of contrived and pointless.

Now that I think about it, it could be a Nimoy thing. He tends to go more for character moments than many other Trek writers and directors, being on both sides of the camera. Whatever reason comes to his mind, I imagine the Russianness could have been the first thing he sees when he pictures Chekov.

Good point about Nimoy's style.

 

[Greg Cox]

Because being Russian was his only defined character trait after he was too old to be "the young one"?

That sounds about right.

 

[FormerLurker]

First, the deleted scene in STIV was also intended to have Sulu speak Japanese with a little boy who turned out to be his great-great grandfather. I don't know if the scene ever got filmed or not. Somewhere on this forum is a link where it states the little boy himself spoke only Japanese.

And while I know Chekov actually says "Oh, no!" in TWOK when he realizes he's on the Botany Bay, didn't an earlier draft actually have him say "Bohze Moi!" which is the equivalent phrase in Russian?

 

[BillJ]

Because being Russian was his only defined character trait after he was too old to be "the young one"?

That sounds about right.

I always thought it was just a nod to the characters Russian heritage, since there weren't many opportunities to bring it up.

 

[Ithekro]

Universal translator. It was set to English when Kirk was around. When Kirk leaves we focus on Chekov, at which point it is set to Russian. I don't recall Scotty saying anything in that scene. It be interesting of Scotty spoke in Russian as well because we are hearing thing from Chekov's point of view.

One of the funnier DC comic of around that time had the backup bridge crew intentionally break the universal translator during an invasion of "mostly harmless" aliens. Everyone on the bridge was a different nationality or species, so the language was chaos.

 

[Avro Arrow]

And while I know Chekov actually says "Oh, no!" in TWOK when he realizes he's on the Botany Bay, didn't an earlier draft actually have him say "Bohze Moi!" which is the equivalent phrase in Russian?

You could be right, because it looks like it was also in the novelization.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Universal translator. It was set to English when Kirk was around. When Kirk leaves we focus on Chekov, at which point it is set to Russian. I don't recall Scotty saying anything in that scene. It be interesting of Scotty spoke in Russian as well because we are hearing thing from Chekov's point of view.

One of the funnier DC comic of around that time had the backup bridge crew intentionally break the universal translator during an invasion of "mostly harmless" aliens. Everyone on the bridge was a different nationality or species, so the language was chaos.

This explanation fits well with what we see later in the film during the (mostly one-way) exchanges between Saavik and Spock, as she speaks Vulcan almost exclusively when interacting with him. As others have suggested, I wonder if Nimoy was attempting to add to touch of realism or character to the film by having characters converse in their native tongue in order to show how diverse the Star Trek universe really is.

--Sran