Xenolinguistics
by Starsinger
Suggested by Lady Cooper. There's a hot debate going on in the Academy's cafeteria between Communications track students, and several of the top Xenolinguistics experts are in on it, including Spock, Uhura and Kirk. Sorry about the German jab. I once performed a song in German in choir, if you were unfortunate enough to be on the first row, you got another shower. Don't own any of them.
"I realize that the Universal Translators are wonderful pieces of technology, but they're very limited," one cadet ranted. "You have to open up your communicator and hope to hell that it works!"
"What if it goes down, or there's an ion storm. This technology is subject to every possible problem out there," another cadet suggested.
"Well," Uhura leaned back in her chair. "There's also the question of dialects. Often, English being an excellent example of it, there are nuances in a language that is only explained by dialects. Different words in the English language often different meanings depending on where you go. In the United States, for instance, a 'fag' is a euphemism for someone who is gay, usually male. In England, however, it's often used to refer to a cigarette."
"Gay has a double meaning also," Spock came in. "Gay once meant happy, in the twentieth century it became synonymous with homosexuality."
"There are species out there whose dialects are so different they should be different languages," Kirk chimed in. "Romulan, for example, has three dialect. Romulan, the one we're all familiar with which is and outward stem of Vulcan. Reman, which comes from their sister planet of Remus, and is a variation on Vulcan as well. And Rihannsu, which stems from the language of the native people of Romulus when the Romulans first landed there. It's considered a dialect, but if you've ever listened to it, it might as well be another language."
"Then there are languages like Klingon. It reminds me of German. If you don't produce enough spit, you're not saying it right," one Andorian female pointed out.
"Oh, don't forget about the importance of body language," Spock pointed out. "If you're not aggressive when speaking in Klingon, you're considered weak and will be shouted down."
Admirals Komack and Archer were standing to the side watching this debate, "How did this all start?"
"One of the Klingon scientists that defected wanted to put on a Shakespearean play. Macbeth, in the original 'Klingon'."