Language Development During Interstellar Travel

Andrew McKenzie, Jeffrey Punske∗

Department of Linguistics, University of Kansas, 1541 Lilac Lane, Lawrence, KS 66045 (USA) Department of Linguistics, University of Southern Illinois, Faner Hall, MC 4517, Carbondale, IL 62901 (USA)

April 30, 2019

Abstract possible outcomes, we also suggest possible methods of shaping this development within This paper explores the consequences that lan- limits. guage change might trigger in the languages of crew members during a long journey in space or interplanetary settlement. Languages drift 1 Introduction apart as communities grow more isolated from each other, so the long isolation of a traveling When we think of language in space, our community may lead to enough difference to minds usually imagine how intelligent non- render its language unintelligible to the origi- humans might communicate [28]. However, nal community it left. This problem may com- it is no less crucial to consider what will hap- pound as later vessels bring new crews with pen to the humans’ language on a long in- their own changed languages to mix with those terstellar voyage. Our languages are always from earlier crews. changing, no matter what we do, and the nec- We discuss various aspects that contribute essary conditions for interstellar travel are pre- to language change, through comparison to cisely those that promote significant language historical Earthbound cases involving some of change. these aspects, such as the Polynesian settle- These facts raise an important linguistic ment of far-flung Pacific islands, and dialect question for any long-term project, especially development in relatively isolated European if colonization is the goal. For if a trip takes colonies. We also weigh the effects of multi- several generations to complete, the language lingualism amongst the crew, with or without a of the vessel community may differ signifi- common lingua franca in use, as well as the ef- cantly at arrival from that of the passengers fects of time and the role that children play in at departure. Also, every vessel afterward language change and creation. As we lay out will see its own language and dialect development, leading to every new arrival speaking ∗Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] a different dialect and perhaps a different lan-

1 guage from the others. This question needs cept for the necessity of sign languages, and an to be considered for any mission containing appeal for greater linguistic awareness among generations-long travel or development. crewmembers so they can handle issues as In this paper we discuss the nature of lan- they arise. guage change, and look at history to show how much a language can evolve when a part of a speech community isolates itself from other 2 The nature of language parts for years or even generations. We then change look at the facets of modern life that affect language variation, though they cannot stop it. We begin by introducing readers to what oc- Finally, we explore some additional consider- curs when languages change, focusing on En- ations that emerge from multilingual environ- glish when possible for the sake of convenient ments. exposition. For this discussion, it is helpful We do not focus on any single set of voyage to think a language as a system, or rather, parameters in this paper, because our goal is a complex of systems. A dialect is a varia- to introduce readers to broad linguistic issues tion of a language tied to a socially significant that might arise. Thomason (2003) addresses geographic region [9]. As such, dialects of some of these questions [31], but makes spe- the same language exhibit mutual intelligibil- cific assumptions about crew size and journey ity: Speakers of one can generally understand length, and makes specific proposals for them. speakers of the other and vice versa. The more For instance, Thomason suggests that English- the regions are socially close, and the more language crew would be ideal to achieve ge- they are mutually intelligible, the more likely netic diversity within the crew, and given a linguists are to call two variations dialects of journey of 200 years, we might not expect the same language. Less so, and we are more major change. However, we will point out likely to distinguish two related languages.1 that 200 years is long enough for signifi- Modern linguists tie the systematicity of cant changes to occur, especially if the crew languages and dialects to elements of cogni- is physically and socially disconnected from tion or society, but we set that question aside Earth. These changes might not render the to focus on the nature of changes within these crew language unintelligible to English speakers, but can lead to a new dialect that creates 1Non-linguists generally employ social factors social issues for the crew and any other crews when distinguishing languages and dialect, with the re- arriving after them. Moreover, these changes sult that some varieties that linguists generally consider will continue during a colonization phase after dialects of one language are considered by their speakers as distinct languages, especially if doing so helps the vessel’s arrival. maintain distinct social identities. Serbian-Croatian- We also do not propose much in terms of Bosnian and Hindi-Urdu are the most well-known in- preventative solutions. Language change is stances. Conversely, some people consider distinct lan- not fully predictable, so there will be a lot guages to be merely dialects of one language, usually to promote a unified social identity. The most famous of necessary vagueness in a voyage that has case of this process are the “dialects” of China includ- to be prepared for. We are nowhere near the ing Cantonese, Hakka, or Wu, which are not mutually point of making concrete policy proposals, ex- intelligible with Standard Mandarin.

2 systems. in Modern French. Before this one syntactic change, French speakers could omit sub- 2.1 Aspects of language change jects, while Modern French ones cannot (2). French had a “verb-second” structure that re- We begin by simply discussing what happens quires one word or phrase before the verb. The when a language changes. word or phrase could be the subject, object, or One of the oldest observations about lan- any other phrase (3). In Modern French, the guage change is that much of it is systematic: subject must precede the verb. French also al- Changes do not merely affect individual words lowed simple verb-subject inversion in ques- or sounds, but can affect the grammatical sys- tions (4), but now only allows it with pronouns tem [20]. A sound /p/ will not only be re- (Comment allez-vous?).2 placed by /f/ in one word but will be replaced throughout the grammar, in particular system- (1) La fille porte les livres atic environments (for instance, the beginning The girl carries the books of a syllable). (2) porte les livres. Systematicity also applies to changes in (she) carries the books other modules of language systems, like word (omitted subject) structures (morphology) and sentence struc- (3) [Les livres] porte la fille. tures (syntax). Most European languages are the books carries the girl. notable for inflectional systems simplifying (verb-second) over the medieval period; this process did not (4) Porte la fille les livres? apply to just one word, but throughout the Carries the girl the livres? system. Language systems also changed in (verb-subject inversion) syntax. For instance, English once put ob- jects before verbs, producing sentences like As with any human process, exceptions The man his cat fed instead of The man fed abound, notably in highly common expres- his cat. In Modern English, verbs precede ob- sions whose frequent use shields their lex- jects. Again, this was a language-wide shift ical entry from grammatical change. En- [34]. glish maintains case marking on pronouns like Sometimes the change occurs in the under- he/him/his, a few relic irregular plurals like lying processes that build linguistic structures, children, and its peculiar series of ‘strong’ and is reflected in a series of phenomena. For verbs like ran instead of runned. English even instance, Early Modern French underwent a retains a handful of archaic object-first expres- series of significant concomitant changes in sions like one swallow does not a summer syntax, which all occurred due to a slight dif- make, with this ring I thee wed, or till death do ference in how case is assigned to subjects in us part (considering do as an auxiliary rather the syntax [27]. These three structures are 2 exemplified below by tweaking a grammati- Modern German and Dutch still employ verb- second structures in main clauses. English also used cal modern sentence (no. (1)) to show what to have all of these features. The verb-subject inver- kinds of structures used to be possible. The sion was common until past Shakespeare’s time, hence tweaks (2-4) are all strongly ungrammatical questions like Why comest thou? from Julius Caesar.

3 than the main verb). These expressions are teens is often subtly triggered by social fac- idiomatic and thus protected from systematic tors, while children acquiring a language can shifts. push significant change as well. Some changes work together. A common change of this type is the chain vowel shift, 2.2 The rate of language change wherein vowels move around the mouth in the language system. For instance, a person might The manner of language change is often sys- say bat in a way that sounds like bet (The /æ/ tematic, but even when it is, the rate of change sound moves to /E/, so /æ/ → /E/). Instead is not. It is not possible to predict exactly how of simply making more ambiguity, the per- fast a language will change. Not only do we son might now say the old bet as butt /E/ → not know which changes will occur, but there /2/, and onwards, so butt sounds like bought is not a regular rate to measure. Linguists in /2/ → /O/, and bought moves closer to the the 1950s tried a glottochronological approach original bat /O/ → /a/. You might think we seeking general consistent rates of language invented this example but it’s real: Around change [25], in analogy to radioactive decay, the Great Lakes region in North America, the but language change is more like a biological Northern Cities Vowel Shift is currently tak- process than a fully predictable chemical one. ing place, and spreading [20, 23]. The most We can be certain, though, that just one well-known vowel shift is simply called the lifetime suffices for significant differences to Great Vowel Shift, and also occurred in En- emerge, especially in a smaller community. glish. From 1400 to 1600, the vowels of En- We even see this speed in larger communi- glish nearly all changed in pronunciation. A ties. In English, it is increasingly common word like tame saw its vowel move from /a/ for speakers to end statements with a rising (like father) to /e/ (like fame). The /e:/ vowel intonation. This phenomenon, called uptalk in teem (like tame) became /i/ (like team) and (or sometimes High Rising Terminal), is of- so on.3 ten mistaken for a question tone by those with- Systematic language change is inevitable. out it in their grammars, but it actually sounds That does not mean we can predict exactly quite distinct [15] and indicates politeness or which direction these processes will take. inclusion [14]. Uptalk has only been observed Language change is not teleological. Lan- occurring within the last 40 years, but has guages do not develop or evolve in any partic- spread from small groups of young Ameri- ular direction or with any particular end-stage cans and Australians to most of the English- to approach. Nor are grammatical systems de- speaking world, even to many Baby Boomers signed or planned. Language use is generally who had not used it themselves as youth. subconscious, and so is language change. It Given more time, new grammatical forms usually occurs piece by piece, impercetibly to can completely replace current ones. About most speakers. Change made by adults and two hundred years ago, the English sentence My house is currently being built, which em- 3The spelling of English remained mainly the same ploys the progressive passive, was ungram- despite these developments, and that is largely why En- matical. To describe this scenario one only glish vowel spelling is so odd. said My house is currently building, which

4 is stoutly ungrammatical to modern speakers 2.3 Social factors in language [33]. change An even more recent development is the We cannot consider language systems without get-passive (My child got promoted, my house also considering the people who know them. is getting built), which has a subtle mean- That requires a look at cognition, but it also ing difference from the be-passive. The get- requires examination of social factors. Our passive is a common and cemented feature of species is a social one, and language as a trait modern English, but its widespread use is ac- permits us to communicate in ways that other tually new— it postdates the first heavier-than- animals simply cannot, to our general benefit. air flight. Likewise, the ubiquity of get in use The main reason that languages diverge is with other predicates (e.g., meaning ‘become’ that their speaking communities cease speak- as in get angry) is younger than the Enlighten- ing to one another. Each little change adds up ment [4]. over time, until two communities speak distinct dialects. As divergence continues, mu- These changes to language are grammati- tual intelligibility is reduced to the point that cally significant, and while no single change speakers no longer understand one another, would make a vessel’s language incomprehen- and their varieties are now distinct languages. sible to us back on Earth, each little change Languages also change when they come to the system adds up until the system no into contact with new languages, and show longer obviously resembles the original. In convergence. Words get borrowed (like foot- addition, some systematic changes can render ball from English), and grammatical features a language nearly incomprehensible to past leak over. In some regions, so many features speakers in short order. Most of the Great are shared that the region forms a distinct lin- Vowel Shift took place in less than 200 years, guistic area (or Sprachbund). The Balkans between Chaucer’s time and Shakespeare’s. are a well-studied Sprachbund, due to features Chaucer in print is extremely difficult for mod- including postposed definite articles [32]. In ern English speakers to make out. If it’s read most European languages with definite arti- aloud, few would recognize it at all. Even cles, articles precede their noun phrases: the Shakespeare in 1600 could not have heard it woman, la femme, die Frau. However, many without learning a different language— and languages and dialects of the Balkan region, Shakespeare’s dialect is quite different from no matter what language family they’re from, 4 modern ones as well [10]. have articles that follow the noun phrase and are morphologically attached to it, as if En- glish had woman-the. Notably, some Baltic Slavic languages (like Bulgarian) have this construction, even though other Slavic lan- 4 A reviewer points out that in 200 years, it is not guages (like Russian or Czech) lack definite terribly likely that a language will change to the point articles altogether. of non-intelligbility. However, some changes affect intelligbility more than others, and a vowel shift— which These factors can be accelerated when a often takes less than 100 years— affects it greatly. community is small. Divergence accelerates

5 language plural form 3 Language Change in Ex- Macedonian covek-otˇ man-the Bulgarian student-at˘ student-the ploratory Contexts S.E. Serbian zenˇ a-va´ woman-the In this section we will discuss a few historical Romanian porc-ul pig-the instances that are analogous to the interstel- Aromanian om-lu man-the lar scenario. Crews of intrepid voyagers trav- Albanian mik-u ‘the friend’ elled long distances to form new communities Table 1: Article forms in the Balkan Sprach- cut off from others who spoke their language. bund (from Tomic´ 2006) Given just a few hundred years, these communities’ language developed into new dialects and into completely new languages by diverg- because it is easier for a small community ing from other varieties and converging on a to cut off contact with others. As diver- new one. The paths of divergence and con- gence from other communities takes place, vergence depended on the social conditions of convergence towards one another accelerates the voyagers as well as the environments they because small communities allow for a change landed in. to rapidly become the norm, and because a small community might be greatly affected by a larger community’s language. 3.1 Isolated Oceanic Settlement Another social factor affecting change is language identity. People often use language Austronesian expansion and settlement, par- or dialect as a method of belonging within a ticularly Polynesian settlement across the community (the one that speaks that way), and southern Pacific, provides an ideal mirror to will unconsciously adjust their own speech to space exploration for a number of reasons: more closely match their peers. As a language It includes human exploration and settlement variety becomes distinct from others, commu- into the unknown, and the groups undertak- nity members accentuate the differences, and ing this journey experienced isolation from the differences become the norm as a badge of external human influence. Polynesian lan- belonging. guages are descended from a single hypoth- These social factors are well observed oc- esized common language, or proto-language, curring around the world, in all types of so- called Proto-Polynesian. Linguistic, genetic, cieties, so we can predict that they will apply and archeological evidence provides some- to any crew on an interstellar vessel, even if what different answers to the origin site of this we cannot predict exact changes. The phys- language [16, 30]. Polynesian deep-sea settle- ical isolation of an interstellar voyage fosters ment likely began between 1500–1000 BCE divergence from Earth varieties, especially as [16, 18]. Settlers reached distant and hard- social isolation grows without any no other to-reach locations such as Hawai’i and Easter communities to grow convergent toward. This Island around 400-500 CE and New Zealand isolation also offers an ideal environment for around 1000 CE. a speech community to form, with crew mem- Being the first humans to live in these bers’ speech converging [29]. places, the Polynesian settlers were largely

6 isolated from other languages. Krupa [18, 19] Madagascar’s proximity to southern Africa notes that this isolation impacts the linguistic has shaped the language’s development via situation. contact-induced change with nearby speakers “First, the Polynesian languages are of Bantu languages [11, 2]. This shaping notable for an extraordinary trans- has affected both vocabulary and grammatical parence of their phonemic systems structure, including Malagasy’s full-fledged and phonotactic structures, and sec- tense system, and the introduction of word- ulun` aˇ ond, Polynesia is, due to an al- final vowels [3]. For instance, Malagasy *ulun most total lack of external influ- ‘person’ derives from Proto-Malagasay . ence, a sort of linguistic labora- In related Borneo languages like Maanyan, tory where hypotheses on various these words still generally end in consonants ulun linguistic changes can be verified” ( ). Vowel-final words are a well-known (Krupa 1973:15). feature of Bantu, and Malagasy is the only language in its historical group where they are Recent research finds that far-flung Polyne- prevalent. The exact history and timing of this sian settlements were not fully cut off, and influence has been a matter of debate [38], but that many conducted exchanges between each it is clear that neighboring languages have sig- other [7]. Nonetheless, the various speaking nificantly affected Malagasy development. communities were largely isolated from other As a whole, we may expect that a multi- ones, and new, mutually unintelligible vari- generational crew’s language would shift in eties emerged. A spatial crew or colony would the ways common in internal-changes within also not be fully cut off from other speak- a language. The lack of consistent, external ers, because of long-distance communication pressures or influences on the crew language tools, so we can expect over time that the lan- would make this very similar to the case of guage(s) of our space explorers will undergo Polynesian exploration and language change, a similar shift relative to the Earthbound lan- while the presence of any external influences guage users they left behind. at the point of arrival would predict a development more like Malagasy. 3.2 Non-isolated Oceanic Settle- ment 3.3 19th-century colonization The relative isolation of Polynesian settle- We have no historical record tracing how Poly- ments stands in contrast to the history of Mala- nesian or Austronesian languages changed, gasy, which is spoken in Madagascar. De- and must trace their development through the spite its location near mainland Africa, Mala- present-day descendant languages. More re- gasy is a cousin of the Polynesian languages, cent examples offer a record to examine, and as both belong to the larger Austronesian lan- also shed light on dialect development through guage family. Madagascar was settled by contact. English speakers of various dialects Austronesian settlers from the East Indies emigrated to New Zealand in large numbers around 500 CE, and their language would de- the mid-1800s. There, they built a relatively velop into modern-day Malagasy. However, small colony largely isolated from other En-

7 glish dialects [35]. Once this divergence oc- lar voyage. However, several crucial aspects curred, the various dialects quickly converged of human culture relating to language have to make a new standard within three genera- arisen since those times, and these changes tions, in a levelling process that Kerswill calls induce significant effects on the outcomes of koineization´ [17]. language change. The three we shall discuss A similar situation occurred when German are language policy, universal compulsory settlers from a variety of regions emigrated to education, and telecommunications. Texas in the United States, forming communities that remained mainly German-speaking 4.1 Language Policy until World War I. In three generations, the dialects of these German speakers had begun In ordinary lives, people can speak any lan- to coalesce [8], but the koineization´ was not guage they please, and it suits them well. as complete as it was in New Zealand, per- When it comes to international cooperation haps due to the minority status of the German and professional communication, that choice communities being surrounded by English- becomes practically constrained. A common speakers. Nonetheless, Texas German became language or set of languages is generally cru- fairly distinct from other varieties of German cial to cooperation, and on a mission, cooper- spoken back in Europe. ation is crucial to success. Consequently, in The time periods in these cases have only many domains, interested parties agree to em- been long enough to allow the development ploy a lingua franca, a language chosen to of distinct dialects rather than languages, but be the common one for the mission. In in- they merely involved a few decades of rela- ternational aviation that language is generally tive isolation. And the process of dialects lev- English. English serves in science as well, eling and merging began on the months-long though Latin served that purpose for many sea voyage. For a years-long voyage, we can years. French was the lingua franca of West- expect the dialects to begin to merge, and for ern diplomacy; Chinese that of the Far East. In a generations-long mission, we can expect a space missions, the choice is localized based new dialect distinct from all others to become on context: English is used aboard the ISS, solidified. Given enough generations, we can while Russian is used in the Soyuz craft to expect the crew and colonists to have formed reach it, although a lack of clear policy has led a distinct language altogether— without even to some confusion [5]. taking into account changes back on Earth. Language policies that promoted national languages formed a key component of nation- alism throughout the 20th century, but in the 4 Considerations for Mod- 21st, policies have shifted toward the preservation and promotion of endangered minor- ern Exploration ity languages. Any colony or long-term voyage will need to set a course in terms of lan- The examples of historical exploration guage policy that takes these trends into ac- demonstrate what is likely to happen to an count. The oldest form of language policy is isolated crew’s language over a long interstel- mandating the use of an official language in

8 government business. Over the years, as gov- ing or eradicating language varieties, it does ernment functions have spread into more and not greatly affect the change of languages that more aspects of life, so the effect of one or continue to be acquired. In fairly monolin- more official languages has grown. The most gual jurisdictions, education tends to promote important one for language development has a prestige dialect above others, rather than proven to be education. a prestigious language. However, it rarely causes that dialect to supplant local ones. In 4.2 Education some cases, like Standard German, few people use the prestige dialect natively. In Finland, One key distinction of modern times from the nobody does. In both cases, everyone learns past is that nearly all children go to school. the prestige variety in school. Recall that children are a significant driver of The promotion of a dialect is generally language change. During the course of ac- accompanied by prescriptive stylistic rules, quiring languages, they figure out the systems which slow the rate of change in the written they are exposed to from their peers and from language, but do not significantly slow the less adults. As they figure out a language sys- prestigious local dialects from continuing to tem, they adjust it slightly. As the children change. If the process continues unchanged, age into adolescence, their innovations often the two forms will diverge. For instance, writ- endure [21]. After the older have speakers ten/literary French is strictly preserved by lin- passed on, the changes become part of the lan- guistically conservative language academies, guage or the dialect— Koineization´ of an im- and still employs forms that fell out of use in migrant dialect begins among adults, but kicks spoken language over two hundred years ago, off in earnest once children begin to acquire it like the passe´ simple. It also employs question as native speakers. forms that speakers use only in a few dialects. The role of children in language acquisi- Contrast the written Quand arriva-t-il le vais- tion has grown more prominent in language seau? ‘When did the vessel arrive?’ to the policy since school is now the main locus of spoken Il est arrive´ quand, le vaisseau? The child socialization, and thus of language de- growing distinctions have led many linguists velopment [13]. Consequently, language poli- to consider spoken and written French to be cies often focus on education, taking advan- distinct dialects [12], before even considering tage of the need for some language or dialect regional variations. to serve as the medium of instruction. Many On a long voyage, or in a colonization situ- governments have employed education to en- ation where everyone spoke a single language force the use of a dominant language [24], to (say English for the sake of example), we defensively protect a minority one [26], or to would probably see the same situation unfold. deliberately eradicate minority languages [1]. Even if the onboard schools rigorously main- Forcing children to use one language can con- tained the teaching of “Earth English,” the tribute to the end of acquisition of others. A children would develop their own Vessel En- multilingual vessel will have to set its educa- glish dialect, which would diverge from Earth tion policy carefully. English over time. The divergence would be Although education plays a role in promot- aided by isolation, since the children would

9 not need to enter the wider workforce. Con- identity separate from the Earth-bound sup- vergence towards a unique variety would be port team, we would expect to see reﬂexes of aided by the sense of identity the dialect would this separation in their language use. Also, offer to the vessel’s occupants. Indeed, after if the crew is large enough, tasks may be di- several generations, the mission participants vided in ways similar to socio-economic strata might have almost no need to learn the Earth in Earth-bound societies. It is therefore pos- English dialect except to read operation and sible that multiple ship-based varieties would maintenance documentation and other histor- emerge as markers of identity. ical documents. In a multilingual crew, this These emerging dialects would develop de- process might unfold for every language in- spite continued communication with Earth, at volved. least for relatively near missions. However, Earth languages might not be forgotten, even 4.3 Telecommunications if only a few people used them. As the distance grows between Earth and the crew, we Since the Industrial Revolution, communities might instead see the development of fos- have grown less isolated from one another. silized, older forms of the Earth languages in This interconnection has exploded during the specialized or even ritualistic use. As time Information Age, as telecommunications and and distance increase between Earth and the air travel expose people to other accents and ship or colony, direct two-way communication languages more than ever before. Contact will become impossible, as messages may be slows or prevents divergence, and national me- received years after transmission. With the dia promotes a single identity with a neutral divergence of languages on the ship relative dialect, so one might conclude that dialects are to Earth, and with the Earth-bound languages blending together over time now. still changing, such messages are likely to em- Contrary to that conclusion is actual obser- ploy a preserved form of the common, pre- vation, which ﬁnds a more complex picture. change version of the languages in a standard- While some dialects are levelling off toward ized, ritualized way. Such preservation may be a standard dialect promoted by education and viewed as analogous to the preservation and mainstream media, other dialects are diverg- use of dormant languages in liturgical or other ing as a marker of socioeconomic identity—a religious settings, like the use of Latin by the way to stay distinct amid a homogenized cul- Catholic Church, Biblical Hebrew in Jewish ture [6, 22]. Many cases involve novel re- traditions, Classical Arabic in Islam, or San- gionalizations of standard varieties (e.g. Es- skrit in the religions of India. tuary English, Poldernederlands), while others involve maintaining or accentuating non- standard varieties. 5 Multilingualism on board Such identity marking may become a criti- cal early factor in linguistic divergence when For the purposes of exposition we have mainly two-way communication is possible between assumed a monolingual crew, but in the mod- Earth and the ship or colony at relatively short ern era of international cooperation, a multi- time lapses. As the crew forms a ‘regional’ lingual crew is almost certain. Reliable univer-

10 sal automatic translation that can keep up with current ISS missions, but can it be scaled up the full breadth of language use still resides in to a mission where ten different languages are the distant realm of science fiction, so com- spoken? munication policies will need to be set. Every question previously discussed will occur for each of the languages on board. Thomason’s 5.2 Sign Languages suggestion of a monolingual-English crew is Even if one nation sent a monolingual crew aimed at promoting communication first and on a long voyage or to form a colony, there foremost [31]. However, as of the 21st cen- would end up being some kind of multilin- tury, linguistic diversity and the co-requisite gualism due to the birth of congenitally non- preservation of cultural identity also require hearing children. Congenital hearing loss oc- important consideration [36]. Even if one lan- curs at a rate of over two per thousand births guage predominates, it will also be practical [37]. These children can acquire sign lan- to select crew in part for skills in multiple languages, which any child can acquire as eas- guages. ily as hearing children can acquire spoken ones. Sign languages are as complex and com- 5.1 Ensuring crew communication plete as spoken languages, but completely distinct from them. American Sign Language, Obviously, the entire crew will need to com- for instance, is completely unintelligible with municate with one another, unless the vessel British Sign Language, and is actually more can hold several hundred people. This is the like French Sign Language. Sign languages problem faced by international organizations also change over time. The certitude of con- like the United Nations, the European Union, genital non-hearing will entail the requirement or OPEC. Some groups choose a single lingua of signers participating in the mission, to en- franca spoken by the nation at ‘heart’ of the or- sure that non-hearing children are not deprived ganization (English for the British Common- of language acquisition. In order for a child to wealth, or Russian for the CIS), while others acquire a sign language, there must be signers choose one that is common amongst members, signing to and around them. like Modern Standard Arabic for the Arab League. Some economic organizations like OPEC use English as a lingua franca due to its 6 Conclusion status in international business. Others rely on simultaneous translation, especially organiza- This paper has considered some of the out- tions with legal force. The EU famously trans- comes concerning language during a long in- lates into the official languages of all its mem- terstellar voyage, or a colonization scenario. bers, while the UN limits itself to six of most While crisp predictions are impossible due to commonly spoken ones around the world. Si- the nature of language change, we can pre- multaneous translation takes up valuable re- dict that significant changes will likely occur sources that a spaceship likely cannot spare, within a single generation. Eventually, the lan- so the crew members will need to be multi- guage or languages of the crew will diverge lingual. This solution has proven helpful for from those on Earth. If they start out with mul-

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