Questa discussione ha avuto 33 risposte

[Techin]

It's been a while since I've played the trilogy... Did they ever explain it (in a game, book or comic) why every race understands each other? Does the ME universe have some kind of babelfish, or does the Omnitool translate thing for you?

 

Thanks!

[Vanilka]

I think there's a codex entry dedicated to this. Basically, everybody carries or wears a translator. If I remember correctly, it doesn't necessarily have to be an omnitool. Some people even wear theirs as jewellery, for example.
 
Here we go:

Most individuals know only their mother tongue, and rely on machine translation. Modern portable computers allow anyone with a few hundred credits of equipment to enjoy seamless real-time translation of alien languages, courtesy of handheld PDAs, computers in clothing or jewelry, or sub-dermal implants. Without fast and accurate translation, galactic trade and culture would not exist.

- Codex/UPDATE: Bring Down the Sky, Secondary Codex Entries, Technology: Translation

[Techin]

So there is an explanation. Thanks! I really couldn't remember while I was discussing Mass Effect with my brother. 

[Vanilka]

Happy to help! I only discovered it during my last playthrough when I decided to read the codex really diligently, too. I once asked myself the same question you did.

 

I don't remember the translator being mentioned otherwise, not beyond the Salarian at the game shop on the Citadel in ME2 saying that Batarians that don't use translators during the multiplayer are the worst, and then there's this moment with Thane when he calls (female) Shepard "Siha" and she says her "translator must have glitched" because the word did not get translated. Both are quite specific circumstances, I think, and may be easy to miss. At least I can't recall anything else. That's not much. The codex entry gives the most satisfying answer but did it take me forever to read all the way to it, too.

[sortiv]

There is a codex entry. http://masseffect.wi...ng_Down_the_Sky

 

If you read the novels, there's some minimal additional detail that gets provided. Vanilka references it also, but I believe in either Revelation or Ascension it's suggested there may be an occasional delay in the translator if a word is not recognized - it makes a best attempt at translation. 

[Treacherous J Slither]

Yet somehow "bosh tet" doesn't get translated. >_>

[Sir Floopy]

I don't think I really needed a translation the first time I heard it used, did you?

[Treacherous J Slither]

I don't think I really needed a translation the first time I heard it used, did you?

I understood it as a derogatory term but the omnitool should have translated it regardless.

[aoibhealfae]

Its probably similar to how Star Wars handle communications and different languages. Hidden translators and stuff. Notice how everyone talk to R2 or Chewie like their beeps and growl mean something.

 

Besides, I thought people hate reading subtitles. 

[Treacherous J Slither]

Its probably similar to how Star Wars handle communications and different languages. Hidden translators and stuff. Notice how everyone talk to R2 or Chewie like their beeps and growl mean something.

Besides, I thought people hate reading subtitles.

I read the subtitles even if what i'm watching is in english.

[Vanilka]

Yet somehow "bosh tet" doesn't get translated. >_>

 

This. I always wonder about this, too. I'd understand it doesn't translate bosh'tet or keelah se'lai. I'd believe some words simply may have no sufficient translation into English. I sure as hell couldn't translate the names of some types of food from my country into English, for example. On the other hand, when things like loco or abuela slip through it... However, I can see why they would want to use them. They make a character's speech more colourful. I don't know whether James is a good example, but Tali definitely is.

[Undead Han]

It could be that the translator software is very sophisticated and is able to distinguish between when something needs to be translated, and when a person is using a foreign word or phrase that either needs no translation, or adds more color to the conversation when left untranslated. So Vega saying Heuvos Rancheros for example doesn't come out as 'Rancher's Eggs,' because the software is programmed to recognize foreign words that are commonly understood. Something similar could be going on with Bosh'Tet.

[Treacherous J Slither]

Someone is calling me names in a foreign language. I want to know what they're saying so I can react accordingly. It's the omnitools job to translate. Simple as that.

[Undead Han]

Someone is calling me names in a foreign language. I want to know what they're saying so I can react accordingly. It's the omnitools job to translate. Simple as that.

 

Maybe bosh'tet is commonly understood in the ME universe.

 

Take a word like schmuck for example. It is Yiddish, but every English speaker understands that it is an insult for someone perceived as stupid or foolish. It doesn't need any translation, and would lose its impact in some respects if one of ME's translators just rendered it as 'fool.' 

 

I doubt the writers gave much thought to how the sprinkling of foreign or alien terms in dialogue works with the universal translators in the lore, but I think that works well enough for head canon on why some words aren't translated.

[Treacherous J Slither]

Maybe bosh'tet is commonly understood in the ME universe.

Take a word like schmuck for example. It is Yiddish, but every English speaker understands that it is an insult for someone perceived as stupid or foolish. It doesn't need any translation, and would lose its impact in some respects if one of ME's translators just rendered it as 'fool.'

I doubt the writers gave much thought to how the sprinkling of foreign or alien terms in dialogue works with the universal translators in the lore, but I think that works well enough for head canon on why some words aren't translated.

I didn't know that schmuck was yiddish or that it meant fool. I simply knew it was a put down because of how it's used.

A translators job is to translate. Not to assume you know the meaning of some words. Because you might not.

Rendezvous. Sounds french. I don't know if it is but I know what it means. I believe it's been adopted into the english language but it may just be a commonly used foreign word. If the latter is true then the translator should replace it with 'meet up'.

Ima Wikipedia it.

[Treacherous J Slither]

Well it's french. Got that right. It's very commonly used but I doubt that every english speaker in the world knows what it means.

I assume a translator would translate it though.

Whatever.

[Undead Han]

It could be that the translators have various settings. A lot of programs do have customization options to account for various user preferences. So the universal translators might have a setting that has them translate anything remotely foreign to the language they are set to, and another that allows some commonly understood words or phrases to pass by untranslated to add color to conversations. Shepard might just have his or her set to the latter.

[Treacherous J Slither]

Yeah I was thinking that was a possibility.

Seems a bit of a stretch though.

[iM3GTR]

Unless you're playing the French version, because then everybody speaks French.

[Belial]

I wonder, does the omni-tool translate writings too? Why is Afterlife on Omega written in English?

[aka.700]

I wonder, does the omni-tool translate writings too? Why is Afterlife on Omega written in English?

It could be like a TARDIS kind of explanation
Do you know how TARDIS from Doctor Who lets everyone see, hear and also speak any language they need wherever they go?
I knew about the translation software but never thought on the writings around.

[Treacherous J Slither]

I wonder, does the omni-tool translate writings too? Why is Afterlife on Omega written in English?

Nice catch lol

[X Equestris]

Yet somehow "bosh tet" doesn't get translated. >_>

I believe it was said somewhere there wasn't a precise translation for it. Or maybe that was stated when talking about other alien words, and could be implied here.

[LostInReverie19]

I try not to think about this too much. Otherwise it starts bothering me that supposedly Shep's translator is enabling her to understand her alien companions yet they all still move their lips/mouths to form English words. Words and phrases don't always match up length wise in other languages. Right now I'm imagining Tali saying something. It doesn't take her long to say it, a few words, but the English translation for Shep is much longer so the Commander is just standing there listening to a translation from her Omnitool while Tali stares back with her mouth closed. Kinda like in those old poorly dubbed Godzilla movies.

[AVMERM]

I still think that this was a lost opportunity for the creative team. I think more alien dialogue would have enriched the experience.

 

I hope this is something they delve into deeper for Mass Effect Andromeda.