One thing I’ve always wondered, and this is hardly the most unbelievable aspect of the science fiction elements of this show but it’s one of the most pervasive and constant; why don’t we ever hear the native languages of the aliens underneath the sounds of the universal translators? Most, although not all, of them speak by vibrating the air, so where are those sounds disappearing to?
This was a plotpoint in DS9 where the UT didn’t picked up the nuances of a language but the mutants who were able to comprehend the language deciphered what was really meant.
One thing I’ve always wondered, and this is hardly the most unbelievable aspect of the science fiction elements of this show but it’s one of the most pervasive and constant; why don’t we ever hear the native languages of the aliens underneath the sounds of the universal translators? Most, although not all, of them speak by vibrating the air, so where are those sounds disappearing to?
The translator also emits an interference pattern that cancels out the original speech to the listener
This was a plotpoint in DS9 where the UT didn’t picked up the nuances of a language but the mutants who were able to comprehend the language deciphered what was really meant.
fwiw: you do get to hear a little bit of ferengi in this episode, before they get their translators fixed