Fictional technology that instantly translates any language
See also: Interlingual machine translation
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A universal translator is a device common to many science fiction works, especially on television. First described in Murray Leinster's 1945 novella "First Contact",[1] the translator's purpose is to offer an instant translation of any language.
As a convention, it is used to remove the problem of translating between alien languages when it is not vital to the plot. Especially in science fiction television, translating a new language in every episode when a new species is encountered would consume time normally allotted for plot development and would potentially become repetitive to the point of annoyance. Occasionally, intelligent alien races are portrayed as being able to extrapolate the rules of English from little speech and rapidly become fluent in it, making the translator unnecessary.
While a universal translator seems unlikely, scientists continue to work towards similar real-world technologies involving small numbers of known languages.[2][needs update]
^"Hic Rhodus, His Salta" by Robert Silverberg, Asimov's Science Fiction, January 2009, page 6.
^"'Tower of Babel' translator made". BBC News. 2006-10-25. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
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