17

Leaving aside the question of what languages people are actually speaking, are there any humans who are confirmed (in a show or in novels) to have a first language was not English or Federation Standard, or who were raised bilingual (English/Standard and their own country's language)?

I'm most interested in characters living post-establishment of the universal translator, but answers about characters from Enterprise are acceptable as well.

Community
  • 1
larissa
  • 1,320
  • 7
  • 22

1 Answers1

32
  • Pavel Chekov speaks fluent Russian. He periodically lapses into it when excited, as he did in Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock.

KIRK: I'm on my way. Sulu, continue docking procedure.

SULU (OC): Aye sir.

CHEKOV : "Ya ne sumasshedshi! (Я не сумасшедший!)" ("I'm not crazy!")

  • Uhura's first language is apparently Swahili. When her memory is erased in TOS : The Changeling, she uses it while re-learning English.

UHURA: The dog has a, The dog, sikumbuka

CHAPEL: Not Swahili, Uhura. In English. The dog has a ball. See? B, ah, ll. Ball. Now you go ahead.

UHURA: The dog has a ball.

These are both backed up in TOS: The Spectre of the Gun where each person on the bridge hears a warning in their first language.

KIRK: English.

CHEKOV: It was Russian, sir. Every word.

UHURA: No, Captain. It was Swahili.

KIRK: Interesting. Telepathy.

  • Hoshi Sato appears to be bilingual in Japanese, although it's not certain whether she was raised bilingual or learned it at a later date

T'POL: Captain? May I speak with you?

HOSHI: (as Archer takes the pot of oden off the stove and starts to help himself) That is a very complex recipe. I will not serve it till it's just right. My family's reputation is at stake.

enter image description here

  • Captain Picard also speaks fluent French. Given that he was brought up in France, it seems likely that he was raised bilingual:

PICARD: Incroyable! Vous etes Parisienne?

Riker is surprised that she speaks French and a little jealous that she and Picard are hitting it off so well.

MINUET : Au fonde c'est vrai, nous sommes tous Parisienne.

PICARD : Oui, au fonde nous sommes tous Parisienne.

  • Ensign Muniz (DS9 : The Ship) reverts to speaking Spanish when he suffers a serious injury.

INTERIOR - ANOTHER ANGLE as Muniz starts MUTTERING pieces of Spanish... "Lindo"... "que bonita"... "noche"... O'Brien can do nothing but keep Muniz from rocking too violently.

Community
  • 1
Valorum
  • 689,072
  • 162
  • 4,636
  • 4,873
  • 1
    Is it ever made clear what language the Rozhenko's speak? Their names imply Russian nationality, could it be possible then that Worf's first (human) language was Russian? – Monty129 Aug 15 '14 at 12:34
  • 1
    @Monty129 - I thought about them but I couldn't find any evidence that they speak Russian other than their use of the odd Russian word and cod-Russian accents – Valorum Aug 15 '14 at 12:48
  • @Monty129 Worf was raised near Minsk, now Belarus. He says that at the end of DS9, when eagerly recommending it for a trip. "Minsk". – Davidmh Aug 15 '14 at 14:43
  • 1
    Ah, Muniz. RIP. – Paul D. Waite Aug 15 '14 at 15:35
  • 2
    @pauld.waite - He died the classic red shirt death, e.g. to illustrate how serious the situation is... – Valorum Aug 15 '14 at 15:39
  • Good memory - I remembered less than half of those. – PopularIsn'tRight Sep 12 '14 at 01:09
  • 1
    @Monty129 - keep in mind that Worf was six when he was adopted and brought to Earth. His first language would undoubtedly be Klingon by that point. – Omegacron Mar 24 '15 at 21:45
  • I'm a bit torn between fixing this as a typo or keeping it as it is to stick to the apparent source: "nous sommes tous Parisienne" should rather read "... Parisiens" to fix the grammar. The linked script does say "Parisienne" and the audio in the episode sounds a bit like it, while on the other hand, "Parisiens" would be correct grammar (at least by 21st century French standards), and both Chakoteya and the current Netflix subtitles also use "Parisiens" there. Likewise, "au fonde" should be spelt "au fond". – O. R. Mapper Apr 02 '23 at 22:00