Star Trek Ruminations

Are they really speaking English on Star Trek, or does it just appear that way for the sake of the 20th/21st century audience? We can't necessarily trust our ears, since the Universal Translator may simply be translating for us as the 20th/21st century audience.  But an exchange between Neelix and Tuvok strongly indicates that it truly is English being spoken on Starfleet ships in the 24th century. A Riddle that Solves the Riddle The episode "Riddles" (VOY) starts and ends with two alternate punchlines for the same riddle: NEELIX: Okay, here goes. A lone Ensign finds himself stranded on a class L planetoid with no rations. His only possession, a calendar. When Starfleet finds him twelve months later, he's in perfect health. Why didn't he starve to death? TUVOK: It is a theoretical possibility that such planetoids contain hot water springs, which could sustain the man for several weeks. NEELIX: But not for a whole year. TUVOK: I concur. Logic dictates that the Ensi...

While Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country wove issues of translation and communication into the story, in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home issues of translation and communication are the story. More than any of the other movies, and more than all but maybe a handful of episodes, the drama of this story grows directly out of the complexities of communicating with alien life-forms. In his book I Am Spock , Leonard Nimoy provides some insight into the creative process behind this movie. Early on he consulted with three scientists involved in the SETI program, including Philip Morrison. Morrison argued strongly that communication with an alien life form would be virtually impossible: In addition to the mechanical problems of having radically different speech organs, the thought process and shared experience from a totally alien environment and path of evolution would leave even a translated sentence incomprehensible. Of course, in the Star Trek universe we are dealing with a lot of hum...