And the Universal Translator

Coyote_finn · Freshman Cadet Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 9

Right, I speak a little Irish and some german.

I know for a fact that you cannot think in Irish the same way as thinking in english.

My brother speaks fluent Japanese

The language does not allow for certain expressions etc. There are things in Japanese and chinese that do not translate into english. Jokes, metaphors etc.

So why does the universal translator work?

It just could not, a permanent literal translation would make no sense half the time, a permanent translation into plain language is unfeasable.

People have studied chinese literature for centuries, they have studied latin for longer. You still cannot get it exactly right, the only way to really understand is to be bi-lingual.

Even then, you can only really say 'well that means that, but in a different way.'

This is just on this planet, htf does it work with alien races who have an entirely different planet, outlook, technology etc?

IntrepedII · Captain Joined: 21 Jun 2002 Posts: 1476 Location: Belgium

basicly its a computer that tries to make sence out of the alien language using a vast database of alien languages

Captain Dappet · **Sat Feb 07, 2004 3:04 pm**

It doesnt work, as its just a TV-Show.

CaptJD · Disyple Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 2699 Location: Canada!

But if it really worked it may work the same way as the one I have on my computer, it doesn't make direct translation it analyses the sentence then translates it. So it comes out not as a direct translation but in a way that you can understand the meaning.

Coyote_finn · Freshman Cadet Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 9

so basically it does not work, or could not work

Starfleet #327 · Captain Joined: 27 Aug 2003 Posts: 526 Location: Australia

They have allready Made some UT's for use in the Army.

Monkey · **Wed Mar 31, 2004 6:57 am**

no they have worldly traslators not universel uhhh. SIR!

Dracojastin · **Sun May 21, 2006 6:53 pm**

I think the coolest part of the universal translator is that it syncs the lips of the aliens aswell

PrankishSmart · **Mon May 22, 2006 4:31 am**

^Not to mention somehow mutes their language their actually suposed to be speaking

lionhead · **Mon May 22, 2006 6:01 am**

Hoshi Sato is brilliant. She invented a Universal Translator that makes no mistakes.

Dracojastin · **Mon May 22, 2006 5:44 pm**

Voyager2004 · **Tue May 23, 2006 10:43 pm**

Dracojastin · **Wed May 24, 2006 9:19 am**

^ well i'm not so good with the klingon language

Voyager2004 · **Wed May 24, 2006 7:53 pm**

Dracojastin · **Wed May 24, 2006 8:04 pm**

*****Totally offtopic*****

Found some nice url's for the klingon language

Klingon Google
http://www.google.com/intl/xx-klingon/

Klingon Wikipedia
http://tlh.wikipedia.org/wiki/ghItlh%27a%27

Klingon Language information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klingon_language

Klingon Language institute
http://www.kli.org/

5thhouse · **Mon Jul 24, 2006 1:05 pm**

The way I understood the UT it read brain waves and found comparable frequencies and then used the expressions that went with those comparable frequencies

and that is how it could be truly universal and didn't really have languages 'programmed' into it.

madlilnerd · **Mon Jul 24, 2006 4:03 pm**

It would make more sense if they just had language chips emplanted in their brain which allowed them to speak a number of languages instantly.

The Extreme · **Fri Jul 28, 2006 12:57 pm**

People who make subtitles for films, can make a foreign language understandable for the audience right? The UT works just the same way, only there are no brains involved only chips.

Admiral Dani�l · **Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:43 am**

deltaflyer3 · Lieutenant Joined: 11 Aug 2008 Posts: 137

i think its just a data base with all none langueges
since alllangueges have a comin tone
when they come across a new languege they run it through that and find out the closest ones and work from there