Multilingualism on DS9
The Universal Translator is the most boring invention in Star Trek, which is why I tend to ignore it. It’s useful for first contact, but the idea that everything someone says is translated means that we never get any depiction of linguistic diversity in Star Trek, particularly in something like DS9. Imagine the possibilities:
- Kira being sent on a crash-course on Federation Standard when she is made liaison officer.
- Bashir sitting with several dictionary PADDs and a grammar, trying to figure out if the translation matrix Garak ran the Cardassian novel through has messed up or if Garak is playing a very intricate practical joke on him, because surely it can’t mean that.
- Molly cheerily code-switching between Japanese, Irish and English. Sometimes she throws in some Bajoran too - Aunt Nerys taught it to her.
- Sisko asking for Kira’s help to get better at Bajoran. They meet over coffee and practice Bajoran.
- Dax sometimes dreaming in languages she no longer knows, but previous hosts were well-versed in.
- Kira and Odo always speaking Bajoran to one another and only switching to Standard when Starfleet folks are there.
- The entire storyline of Garak, Kira and Odo with the Cardassian Resistance being in Cardassian
- Kira learning Cardassian properly only then - before that she spoke only a Bajoran-Cardassian pidgin which developed during the Occupation.
- Nog teaching Jake Ferengi as a way of returning the favour of Jake teaching him how to read.
- Garak eavesdropping on everyone. No one is sure how many languages he understands.
- The chatter of dozens of languages on the Promenade – the gutturals of Klingon, the uvulars of Cardassian, the retroflex liquids of Bajoran.
- Multilingual swearing!
