Is the Doctor actually speaking English or is the TARDIS translating?

AdzPowerAdzPower Posts: 4,861
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I was just wondering...

Is he not speaking Gallifreyan?

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  • CorwinCorwin Posts: 16,588
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    It's been stated that the Doctor can speak numerous languages without the aid of the TARDIS and obviously English would be one of these.

    So it's likely he does speak English to his companions whose native language it is.


    He has of course had companions in the past whose native language would not be English so he may have relied on the TARDIS in those cases.




    We know the TARDIS does not translate written Gallifreyian but it must translate spoken Gallifreyian.
  • lordOfTimelordOfTime Posts: 22,267
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    Does the translation matrix affect the mouth muscles of those it translates to make them look like they're speaking english? ;)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 400
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    lordOfTime wrote: »
    Does the translation matrix affect the mouth muscles of those it translates to make them look like they're speaking english? ;)

    Whenever I've asked this question to myself, I've never actually thought of this. :p Good point.
  • CorwinCorwin Posts: 16,588
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    lordOfTime wrote: »
    Does the translation matrix affect the mouth muscles of those it translates to make them look like they're speaking english? ;)

    No it affects the listener's (or in our case the Viewers) brain into thinking the other persons mouth is actually moving in the correct way.
  • Whovian1109Whovian1109 Posts: 1,812
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    I've always assumed he was but now you mention it, it would make sense for him to be speaking Gallifreyan.
  • lordOfTimelordOfTime Posts: 22,267
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    Whenever I've asked this question to myself, I've never actually thought of this. :p Good point.
    Corwin wrote: »
    No it affects the listener's (or in our case the Viewers) brain into thinking the other persons mouth is actually moving in the correct way.

    In much the same way the TARDIS does to those around us, I get that. :)

    For my next trick... ;)

    What about the Gallifrey High Council when the TARDIS is not around. Do they speak English or Gallifreyan? Does it matter :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 497
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    There's a bit in the novel 'Dead of Winter' by James Goss, where (on page 160) the Doctor loses the TARDIS via leaving the HADS on and says

    "The translation circuits are still working, which means you haven't had to learn French in a hurry. And I haven't had to learn English. That's something."

    But he's probably joking... :)
  • Mr SetaMr Seta Posts: 380
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    I can live with the "everyone speaks English" or there's a automatic sensor (should use the sonic screwdriver & prompt it in front of them) that translates, but a couple of my bugbears are:
    Writing you see in English with our letters that clearly need to be something different (like on a foreign planet or even with the Tardis's equipment). Also stating things are so many hours or days away -what earth time or something different?
    C'mon writers/ directors -it wouldn't be hard to fix these!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 903
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    Corwin wrote: »
    It's been stated that the Doctor can speak numerous languages without the aid of the TARDIS and obviously English would be one of these.

    So it's likely he does speak English to his companions whose native language it is.

    This. He can even speak baby. :)
  • So 3008So 3008 Posts: 2,052
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    I was thinking about this the other day in regards to Davison's early era, where you potentially had the TARDIS team all speaking four different languages to each other.
  • bigheatherbigheather Posts: 694
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    lordOfTime wrote: »
    Does the translation matrix affect the mouth muscles of those it translates to make them look like they're speaking english? ;)

    If it didn't, most episodes would be like the badly dubbed Ferrero Rocher adverts
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 609
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    Mr Seta wrote: »
    Writing you see in English with our letters that clearly need to be something different (like on a foreign planet or even with the Tardis's equipment).


    I take that to work a bit like the psychic paper combined with the translator.

    As for time? as a viewer I'd be confused if the doctor said he'd be back in a parsec, while a countdown is in Blidank's and the companions digital watch in HH:MM:SS and something else in something else. ... so while it would be a nice thorough touch to work out time units it would be very confusing (like when we tried Decimal time a few years back).
  • sandydunesandydune Posts: 10,986
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    lordOfTime wrote:
    Does the translation matrix affect the mouth muscles of those it translates to make them look like they're speaking english? ;)
    Do you think it may be a mix of translation, as in some words that can't be translated into another language or accent .:confused:
  • lordOfTimelordOfTime Posts: 22,267
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    sandydune wrote: »
    Do you think it may be a mix of translation, as in some words that can't be translated into another language or accent .:confused:

    Nah, the translation matrix is perfect. ;)
  • ThrombinThrombin Posts: 9,416
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    There's a pretty thorough writeup of the translation circuit here:

    http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Translation_circuit
  • GDKGDK Posts: 9,467
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    I take that to work a bit like the psychic paper combined with the translator.

    As for time? as a viewer I'd be confused if the doctor said he'd be back in a parsec, while a countdown is in Blidank's and the companions digital watch in HH:MM:SS and something else in something else. ... so while it would be a nice thorough touch to work out time units it would be very confusing (like when we tried Decimal time a few years back).

    Back in a Parsec? That'd be difficult, even for the Doctor, since it's a unit of distance, not time. :)
  • ThamwetThamwet Posts: 2,036
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    I still remember the Cavemen in the very first story, speaking fluent English lol.

    Yeah, I'd be inclined to think it's the Tardis. But obviously the likes of the Daleks, the Sontarans and the Judoon would all have their own translation devices.
  • TEDRTEDR Posts: 3,413
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    No, it's definitely the Doctor — or why would be bother admonishing Peri for using phrases such as "fall guy", asking her to try to speak English?

    Or it varies from story to story, if any clues are provided at all, according to the writer's whim. Shush!
    lordOfTime wrote: »
    What about the Gallifrey High Council when the TARDIS is not around. Do they speak English or Gallifreyan? Does it matter :D

    If a Gallifreyan High Council meets but a Tardis isn't there to hear it then does it make a sound?
  • VopiscusVopiscus Posts: 1,559
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    GDK wrote: »
    Back in a Parsec? That'd be difficult, even for the Doctor, since it's a unit of distance, not time. :)

    Well, our parsecs are measures of distance, but who's to say that elsewhere the term isn't used for a measure of time? I believe there is some evidence that in the Star Wars universe a "parsec" is a measure of time. [On the other hand, it could just be evidence that George Lucas is a know-nothing who got lucky.]
  • VopiscusVopiscus Posts: 1,559
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    Thamwet wrote: »
    I still remember the Cavemen in the very first story, speaking fluent English lol.

    But their English is not fluent. It is staccato, with many short words, and scads of parataxis. In addition, their vocabulary is limited by their limited concepts: woven clothes are "strange skins", the TARDIS is a "tree", and there is the shocking moment when Hur reveals she has not understood Ian's words (though she seemed to): "He told me his name. His name is 'Friend'."

    These episodes represent one of the rare times when Doctor Who actually tried to use stylised language to represent alien thought-processes (the only other example that springs immediately to mind is the Optera), and perhaps deserves greater recognition than it usually gets. The scene where the Doctor convicts Kal of the murder of the Old Woman, using the speech-patterns and conceptual framework of the listening tribe, is a minor masterpiece.

    On the other hand, since we don't know on which planet the story is set, or when, it might be entirely appropriate for the tribe to be speaking English. They could be descendants of colonists from Earth: who knows what really lies on the other side of the mountains? A metal tower full of Tesh?
  • marsch_labbmarsch_labb Posts: 687
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    I think the Tardis scans for people around it (or her) and then transport babel fishs into everyones ear. I wonder if the one in the Doctor's ear regenerates with him?
    However the Tardis does it, the question is what is the range? In some stories, the Tardis is taken away or lost. But if a babel fish has already been transported, that would explain it :)
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