"Like almost every intelligent species, the Merseians had in their past evolved thousands of languages and cultures..." (CHAPTER ELEVEN, p. 104)
It would be interesting to learn about some of the few exceptions.
In a Doctor Who episode, someone had transported the Doctor to a planet which they identified only by a number. When the Doctor said that he preferred names, he was told: "Skaro." The planet of Daleks and Thals! But, of course, the answer should have been something like: "Its name, in the principal language of its dominant species through most of its history, was 'Skaro.'" Someone travelling through space and time needs to give any name some kind of context.
The passage in Ensign Flandry goes on to explain that the process of domination by one culture and unification of the planet has not gone as far on Merseia as on Terra. For some, Wilwidh laws and customs remain a mere overlay and their native languages come more easily than Eriau. Olaf Magnusson, who will enter the Technic History in a later volume, will be fluent in Eriau and two other Merseian languages. I would like to speak at least one other language fluently. We were taught French atrociously.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I recall Flandry later mentioning in THE REBEL WORLDS how there were some intelligent species with only hive minds. They might have been among those races with little cultural variety.
Ad astra! Sean
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