Engineer language

@Angmarwitch — Sorry about the sleepless night. :•( Have a good tomorrow! Thanks for the feedback.

Sukkal: If you're asking me, the answer is, I don't know. I haven't seen the movie, yet. From what I've read, David learns their language from his studies of various languages en route. Evidently, he learns it well enough to speak it to the Last Engineer, who finds it such an affront he beheads him. Maybe he didn't like his accent. No one has said that David's question is rendered in subtitles. Weyland, it is said, tells David to ask the Engineer something on the order of, "where can I buy a bottle of immortality?"--this is facetious but approximate. Hence, the question, which we all understand, renders the need for subtitles moot as the Engineer pats David on the head and rips his head off and pounds Weyland to death with it. I hope this isn't more than you wish to know. If so, I apologize. I add that this is all second hand information, since I haven't seen the movie yet. I love spoilers!

I have a copy of Alien directors cut, and yes the distress call did sound disturbing. I remember that it sounded like a low hum which went on and on. But it also had scattered insect like noises scattered all around the transmission.

Who's to say they don't have a diverse set of languages like we do? There could be many different dialects of their core language - but it would make sense for it to sound "Latin" as all of our languages here are Latin-based and hence would be a great connection to them engineering us to develop language. I do find it interesting though. How David is able to understand their language based on studying various human languages.

Does it sound very similar to Latin? Are there any other human language that you'd compare it to? About how many lines were spoken? (I won't see it until Friday of this week coming up. Please don't tell me WHAT they said, just what it sounded like.) Edit: If you remember what a sentence or two sounded like, please spell it out here, but don't tell me what the subtitles said. Thx.

its the same language i think. but i dont think that the space jockey was thought to be an engineer at the first place they just used it because of giger's works. it wasn't even a mask, you can even see a tongue in that old SJ and he is really big according to our new dudes.

hi Sukkal, I cant remember any spoken words because my knowledge of latin is zip, but their language, by the intonation and pronunciation sounded latin-esque, and nothing like the voice on the deleted alien clip in the link (thank .. someone lol)

Angmarwitch: I'm right there with you! For me that deleted scene is the scariest part of Alien, period! When Lambert said, "Maybe, it's a voice," that should have been " game over " for the entire crew. If I had been Dallas, I would have calmly appraised that comment and then said, 'Well, let's forget company orders, let's forget bonuses. Whatever that is, whoever that is, it's beyond us. It's deeply and threateningly incomprehensible. It's back to the old freezerinos for us." RS knew that, that's why he took that puddle maker out, who in their right mind would go on? Incidentally, the background language of the Engineers is Sumerian, it looks mysterious, yet however mysterious it may look, its neither a Latinate language, nor is it a puddle maker. I too, had hoped to hear from them a "language" akin to the deleted transmission scene from Alien. Perhaps with subtitles, or perhaps not, but with David rendering an approximate translation, and the crew cringing in fear as they leaked themselves.

The spoken sentence in the clip in Alien was heavily processed to give it a freaky sound. cf: [url=http://masempul.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/SumeroEngineer-mt-mixdown.mp3]THIS[/url] That line was actually something in Sumerian (in my recording, not the original [i]Alien[/i] line). I spoke it in a "dark voice" and then added some other modifications. I'm assuming that the Engineers simply speak in a more or less normal human voice in this film (that it's not excessively manipulated by computer-based processing). But, it sounded like Latin with long vowels and lots of -m and -s on the ends of things?

Sukkal: Very kool! Some more sound processing and we could have the beginning of a new puddle maker! Reminds me of some of the freaky language of " Fourth Kind ". Best

I think youve nailed it, though no sound processing required. now im in for a sleepless night , cheers !

@Gahlaktus — Thx! So is what the Engineers say in the film [u]not subtitled[/u]? I just read something elsewhere that makes me ask this.

@Gahlaktus — Quite a bit more than I wanted to know, but I very much appreciate the spirit in which it was offered. It makes sense that subtitles would not be needed in that context. THANKS! To All — If an only if you've seen the film, in the other instance(s) that there is any speaking, [u]is what is said subtitled or not[/u]? I don't want to know WHAT is said. The only reason I'm in the spoiler area is because there are a few discrete [u]factoids[/u] that I want to know (relevant to the context of the spoken language), but NOTHING that has to do with plot or story.

As far as I remember the engineer didn't speak a single word, but even if he spoke and I don't remember it, I know it was not subtitled. Even Davids attempt to speak with the engineer based on historical human languages isn't subtitled. I have no idea what language David used but it appeared that the engineer understood the meaning of Davids question. (David at least seem to understand their language while exploring the "temple")

@BlackDog — Thanks!

Chris the Admin said: "[...] but it would make sense for it to sound "Latin" as all of our languages here are Latin-based [...]" No, not all. In fact, not even all Indo-European languages, only Romance languages. Indo-European languages may very well be the biggest family of languages but not the only one. My language, Finnish, is part of the Uralic family of languages. Finnish is not even related to English in any way other than through the adoption of great many Indo-European words. However, the grammar is quite different. Am I then a different kind of an alien? Mwhahahhaaa... Yeah. :| Edit for typo.