universal translator

[Riker'sMailbox]

I have watched TNG, DS9, VOY and I am mostly through the first season of ENT.

The usage of the universal translator bothers me. It doesn't really come up in TNG since many of the species that they encounter were already known to the Federaton. However, in DS9, the Skrreea are not understood, since this was the first encounter the Federation had with them and it took some time for the translator to figure out their language. Great, that make sense. But, there are so many examples of the translator kicking right in when aliens from the Gamma Quadrant are encountered for the first time.

Even in ENT, where we see Hoshi spending a lot of time working on translations, since the translators were pretty new, there are examples of the translator kicking in right away during a first contact.

What gives? I mean, clearly, the Star Trek franchsie relies on suspension of disbelief and that is all good, but the inconsistency here is head scratching.

You all are much more well versed in ST than I. Help a sister out.

 

[sbk1234]

All those aliens are speaking their own alien languages, which just happen to sound exactly like English.

 

[Dukhat]

The 'universal translator' is just a buzz word to explain why almost all aliens speak English (or whatever language the show is overdubbed with depending on country). It really doesn't hold up to intense scrutiny in-universe, nor is it really supposed to. It's just a quick and dirty get-around.

 

[Sophie74656]

There's not a whole lot on how the translator actually works. This is one of the things that exists because it's a tv show.

There's actually a few times on Voyager where the translator didn't work

 

[Mojochi]

Even TNG had its issues. How does it know to not translate someone, when a person like Riker is deliberately showcasing his ability to speak Romulan curse words to Admiral Jarok?

It's the elephant in the room. It's never made 100% sense... ever

 

[F. King Daniel]

Wasn't it said to read brainwaves and translate from them in TOS (in tie-ins or BTS sources if not canon), but it supposedly a language/speech translator in other Treks?

Star Trek Beyond was the only time they've ever done it believably and plausibly, where you hear the alien speech and a mechanized voice overlaying it kicking in a fraction of a second later.

 

[caseylee4ts]

Don't forget Star Trek VI, when Kirk and Bones are on trial. They had to hold up translators to their ears, likely because their usual universal translators were confiscated.

In my own headcanon, I believe that when they meet a species for the first time, but are immediately understood, the aliens have their own universal translators which are years ahead of our own.

 

[at Quark's]

Even T'Pol's dreams seem to be in English.

Does that mean that she really dreams in English? Or are those translator devices a lot scarier than we thought, tapping into everyone's innermost thoughts?

 

[eschaton]

Even T'Pol's dreams seem to be in English.

Does that mean that she really dreams in English? Or are those translator devices a lot scarier than we thought, tapping into everyone's innermost thoughts?

This sort of stuff doesn't bother me any more than seeing Romans and Nazis speak English (often with British accents!) does.

Trek is dramatic fiction. It's not meant to be a documentary. Some artistic license takes place for the sake of ease of viewing.

On the other hand, it does bother me that we meet new aliens for the first time and there are no communication issues, except in rare cases like Darmok. There's no story reason why the forehead bump aliens of the week need to be a new race versus a splinter colony of someone we have met before. It also really cuts down on the...alien...aspect of aliens.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

How does it know to not translate someone, when a person like Riker is deliberately showcasing his ability to speak Romulan curse words to Admiral Jarok?

Perhaps it's got a censored setting and automatically refuses to translate vulgar phrases unless manually overrided.

 

[at Quark's]

This sort of stuff doesn't bother me any more than seeing Romans and Nazis speak English (often with British accents!) does.

Trek is dramatic fiction. It's not meant to be a documentary. Some artistic license takes place for the sake of ease of viewing.

Neither does it bother me. Just having a bit of fun with the source material

 

[tavor]

could it be a 3 way thing ,maybe the alien or visa versa translator is broadcasting a number of language translation at any given time and it is one of these that the receiver translator is picking up not the original language
example you speak to one interpreter who speaks french/english to another french interpreter who speaks french/german

 

[eschaton]

If the universal translator worked as explained in-show, then the Federation could have just as easily built a computerized telepathy machine which could read anyone's thoughts from thousands of miles away.

 

[The Wormhole]

Even T'Pol's dreams seem to be in English.

Does that mean that she really dreams in English? Or are those translator devices a lot scarier than we thought, tapping into everyone's innermost thoughts?

When we see her dreams, they usually involve humans or people she typically speaks English with (like Phlox). The one exception would be Fusion, where she is dreaming about another Vulcan, but in that case, she was experimenting by going to sleep without meditating, which was said to make dreams unusual.