Editing Universal translator (section)

===''Star Trek''===
In ''[[Star Trek]]'', the universal translator was used by [[Ensign (Star Trek)|Ensign]] [[Hoshi Sato]], the communications officer on the ''[[Enterprise (NX-01)|Enterprise]]'' in ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'', to invent the linguacode matrix. It was supposedly first used in the late 22nd century on Earth for the instant translation of well-known Earth languages. Gradually, with the removal of language barriers, Earth's disparate cultures came to terms of universal peace. Translations of previously unknown languages, such as those of aliens, required more difficulties to be overcome.

Like most other common forms of ''Star Trek'' technology (warp drive, transporters, etc.), the universal translator was probably developed independently on several worlds as an inevitable requirement of space travel; certainly the [[Vulcan (Star Trek)|Vulcans]] had no difficulty communicating with humans upon making "[[Star Trek: First Contact|first contact]]" (although the Vulcans could have learned [[Standard English]] from monitoring Earth radio transmissions). The Vulcan ship that landed during [[first contact (science fiction)|First Contact]] was a survey vessel. The Vulcans had been surveying the humans for over a hundred years, when first contact actually occurred to T'Pol's great-grandmother, T'mir, in the episode "[[Carbon Creek (Star Trek: Enterprise)|Carbon Creek]]"; however, in ''Star Trek First Contact'' it is implied that they learned English by surveying the planets in the Solar System. [[Deanna Troi]] mentions the Vulcans have no interest in Earth as it is "too primitive", but the [[Prime Directive]] states not to interfere with pre-Warp species. The Vulcans only noticed the warp trail and came to investigate.

Improbably, the universal translator has been successfully used to interpret non-biological lifeform communication (in the ''Original Series'' episode "[[Metamorphosis (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Metamorphosis]]"). In the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (''TNG'') episode "[[The Ensigns of Command]]", the translator proved ineffective with the language of the [[Sheliak]]s, so the [[United Federation of Planets|Federation]] had to depend on the aliens' interpretation of Earth languages. The ''TNG'' episode "[[Darmok]]" also illustrates another instance where the universal translator proves ineffective and unintelligible, because the Tamarian language is too deeply rooted in local [[metaphor]].

Unlike virtually every other form of Federation technology, universal translators almost never break down. A notable exception is in the ''[[Star Trek: Discovery]]'' episode "An Obol for Charon", where alien interference causes the translator to malfunction and translate crew speech and computer text into multiple languages at random, requiring [[Commander (Star Trek)|Commander]] [[Saru (Star Trek)|Saru]]'s fluency in nearly one hundred languages to repair the problem. Although universal translators were clearly in widespread use during this era and [[Captain (Star Trek)|Captain]] [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]]'s time (inasmuch as the crew regularly communicated with species who could not conceivably have knowledge of Standard English), it is unclear where they were carried on personnel of that era.

The episode "[[Metamorphosis (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Metamorphosis]]" was the only time in which the device was actually seen; Spock removes the device that had been installed in a shuttlecraft, modifies so that they can communicate with a non-corporeal alien, using the translator as a hand-held device. In the episode "[[Arena (Star Trek: The Original Series)|Arena]]" the Metrons supply Captain Kirk and the Gorn commander with a Translator-Communicator, allowing conversation between them to be possible. During Kirk's era, they were also apparently less perfect in their translations into [[Klingon language|Klingon]]. In the [[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|sixth ''Star Trek'' film]], the characters are seen relying on print books in order to communicate with a Klingon military ship, since [[Pavel Chekov|Chekov]] said that the Klingons would recognize the use of a Translator. Actress [[Nichelle Nichols]] reportedly protested this scene, as she felt that [[Uhura]], as communications officer during what was effectively a cold war, would be trained in [[fluency|fluent]] Klingon to aid in such situations. The novelization of that movie provided a different reason for the use of books: the translator had been sabotaged by somebody working on the Starfleet side of the conspiracy in the story, but the novelization is not part of the [[Star Trek canon|''Star Trek'' canon]]. In that same movie, during the trial scene of Kirk and McCoy before a Klingon judiciary, the Captain and the Doctor are holding communication devices while a Klingon (played by Todd Bryant) translates for them. 

By the 24th century, universal translators are built into the communicator pins worn by [[Starfleet]] personnel, although there were instances when crew members (such as [[William Riker|Riker]] in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Next Generation]]'' episode "[[First Contact (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|First Contact]]") spoke to newly encountered aliens even when deprived of their communicators. In the ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' episode "[[The 37's (Star Trek: Voyager)|The 37's]]" the device apparently works among intra-species languages as well; after the ''Voyager'' crew discovers and revives eight humans abducted in 1937 (including [[Amelia Earhart]] and [[Fred Noonan]]) and held in [[Stasis (fiction)|stasis]] since then, a Japanese Army officer expresses surprise that an Ohio farmer is apparently speaking Japanese, while the farmer is equally surprised to hear the soldier speaking English (the audience hears them all speaking English only, however). Certain Starfleet programs, such as the Emergency Medical Hologram, have universal translators encoded into the programming.

The ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual]]'' says that the universal translator is an "extremely sophisticated computer program" which functions by "analyzing the patterns" of an unknown foreign language, starting from a speech sample of two or more speakers in conversation. The more extensive the conversational sample, the more accurate and reliable is the "translation matrix", enabling instantaneous conversion of verbal utterances or written text between the alien language and American English / Federation Standard.<ref>Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda, ''Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual (introduction by Gene Roddenberry)'', p. 101. Simon & Schuster, 1991.</ref>

In some episodes of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', we see a [[Cardassian]] universal translator at work. It takes some time to process an alien language, whose speakers are initially not understandable but as they continue speaking, the computer gradually learns their language and renders it into Standard English (also known as Federation Standard).

[[Ferengi]] customarily wear their universal translators as an implant in their ears. In the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' (''DS9'') episode "[[Little Green Men (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)|Little Green Men]]", in which the show's regular Ferengi accidentally become the [[Roswell UFO incident|three aliens in Roswell]], the humans without translators are unable to understand the Ferengi (who likewise can not understand the English spoken by the human observers) until the Ferengi get their own translators working. Similarly, throughout all ''Trek'' series, a universal translator possessed by only one party can audibly broadcast the results within a limited range, enabling communication between two or more parties, all speaking different languages. The devices appear to be standard equipment on starships and space stations, where a communicator pin would therefore presumably not be strictly necessary.

Since the Universal Translator presumably does not physically affect the process by which the user's vocal cords (or alien equivalent) forms audible speech (i.e. the user is nonetheless speaking in his/her/its own language regardless of the listener's language), the listener apparently hears only the speaker's translated words and not the alien language that the speaker is actually, physically articulating; the unfamiliar oratory is therefore not only translated but somehow replaced. The universal translator is often used in cases of contact with pre-warp societies such as in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "[[Who Watches the Watchers]]", and its detection could conceivably lead to a violation of the Prime Directive. Therefore, logically there must be some mechanism by which the lips of the speaker are perceived to be in sync with the words spoken. No explanation of the mechanics of this function appears to have been provided; the viewer is required to suspend disbelief enough to overcome the apparent limitation.