October Novel Prep Challenge

How much does language change in 2000 years?

This is a problem I used to have with futuristic science fiction. It always stretched credulity, to me, that everyone spoke English (or whatever language the book or movie was written in). Language changes all the time. These changes tend to be slight over a lifetime, but 2000 years is a lot of lifetimes.

So you set your science fiction in a universe thousands of years in the future, and it's incredibly unlikely that language, especially the idiomatic parts, would be the same.

And then I realized it's all about translation.

What we're doing as writers isn't usually portraying what the characters say or think - but translating that into a form where audiences can understand it.

That seems like a given, I know, but I think it stretches beyond mere language. Science fiction shows such as Star Trek or Doctor Who tend to use humanoid aliens a lot - but even if there are sentient aliens out there (which I doubt), the chance that their form will in any way resemble the human is practically nonexistent.

TV portrays them as human for budgetary reasons, of course - prosthetics and makeup are still cheaper than CGI - but the other thing going on is the creation of relatability. The writers and directors translate their appearance into something that we can empathize with more easily. It's a lot easier to accept an alien with two legs, a head, and pointy ears than it is to accept one with tentacles or claws.

People have made much of the changes in Klingon physiology on Star Trek, for example, and attempts to explain that canonically have been made - though I think their current appearance on Discovery throws all that out the window. They're more *alien* now, both in looks and attitude. And that is what the writers, I think, want to convey.

Point is, translation isn't only about language. It also applies to other aspects of fantasy and SF. Why were the original Enterprise corridors so wide? Well, it's because they needed the room for the recording equipment and crew, but it also makes the ship seem somewhat livable to our Earthbound eyes. Portrayal of artificial gravity works the same way; ever notice how it's always the last system on a ship to fail, even when the engines are fried, the power is gone, and life-support is at emergency levels?

It's great for SF to stretch the imagination, but stretch it too far, and we stop being able to comprehend it. And the kiss of death for any writer (except maybe James Joyce) is incomprehensibility. Unless you get one of those postmodernist reviewers who erroneously think that incomprehensibility is depth.

All of this is to say: I've got many characters from thousands of years in our future, and one that comes from just a couple of hundred years in our future. The story is written in English. How do I portray the anachronism? Especially when I'm using her to help relate the people of 5017 (or so) C.E. to today's readers?

I think I've got a handle on it, but we'll see how it turns out.