Languages besides English used by the Terrans in the Koprulu Sector

[Robear]

So we know that in the 2200s the UPL tried to eradicate all languages besides English, though they were obviously unsuccessful (just look at the UED Valkyrie occasionally speaking in German). Here's the quote from the Terran History in the manual:

Great lengths were taken to eradicate the last vestiges of racial separatism, and the Unitariate Commissions banned many of the world’s oldest religions. English was designated as the common tongue of the planet, replacing many ancient languages that were subsequently banned in their native countries.

Of course, the Koprulu sector was populated by a sampling of people who were prisoners, dissidents, hackers, and people with genetic or cybernetic enhancements rounded up by the UPL, so these have included people who refused to accept English as the only language in the first place. I assume the prisoners who were sent were all taken from North America, given at least the Terran Confederacy's southern accents and penchant for American culture (e.g. the song Sweet Home Alabama, the Confederate flag).

Anyway, long story short, the entire reason I made this post is because I was watching the Covert Ops cutscenes again and noticed on the texture of the gauss rifle the warning labels are all in Spanish and I thought it was funny.



And it's not like some easter egg or reference, it's just a Caution label saying shell casings will be ejected at high speed. In California you definitely see signs marked 'Cuidado' everywhere, but are we to assume on this planet most marines are Spanish speakers? Probably not, since in the actual mission all the enemy Terran forces only speak English.

I also noticed in one of the missions there's a building with a restaurant sign in Chinese, and I can't remember ever seeing Chinese in StarCraft before, but this one could be an easter egg, like if it's a real restaurant one of the artists likes or something.




Oh and there was a Chinese marine in the StarCraft Ghost cinematic with Chinese scrawled on his armor, sitting next to a Soviet Russian one, so add Russian to the list as well.




Again the text in these could be easter eggs. But, anyone spot any other non-English human writing in the SC series? Umoja is a Swahili word, meaning Unity, but I'd imagine it could have just been used in the sense of the 20th century pan-African movement rather than assuming that the Umojan Protectorate operates in Swahili. And of course the UED and Valerian Mengsk listen to opera that's in Latin, but that's more of an opera convention than a sign that there are Latin speakers around.

[TheEconomist]

Hmmm, interesting. A subtle bit of lore, an oversight, or yet another retcon. I wonder which it is

[Nissa]

Lol, prolly retcon. Then again, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that many languages survived. After all, the best way to make a given culture last longer is to try and oppress it.

[Visions of Khas]

We know there were a lot of different languages used in I, Mengsk. But no, this isn't some kind of retcon. If you remember from the first cutscene to StarCraft vanilla, one of the scavengers starts speaking in spanish.

[Turalyon]

It's not a retcon that the K sector Terrans would have different languages present in the current setting since their descendants were outcasts from the UPL (now UED). Given that the UPL outlawed other languages, it wouldn't be surprising that some of the people on those super-carriers would have included some non-English speaking people.

What's potentially strange is that there are hints of non-English speaking people still existing within the UED (which came after the UPL). The classic example is Stukov. Him having heavily accented English speech implies that English is not his native tongue. I guess that the UED probably relaxed their hardline stance about English being the only language sometime in their transition from the UPL.

[TheEconomist]

Sounds that they made a bit of lore and regretted it. Not quite retcon, but probably not a simple oversight either.

[Nolanstar]

The ingame signs actually change based on local settings.

[Visions of Khas]

Tura, you're not going to eliminate a language overnight (a hundred or so years). Stukov and DuGalle imply a fall of a US-dominated west, which is stated in the original manual. So it's little wonder that people from non-english speaking countries would rise to prominence.

[Turalyon]

Tura, you're not going to eliminate a language overnight (a hundred or so years).

I know, it'd be impossible really but I'm running off what was given. I did say "potentially strange" afterall.

Also, keep in mind that Stukov was born generations after the UPL decree of banning all languages. There may have been different languages and accents when the decree was first made but if it was enforced (realism aside), any trace of accent would be lost throughout the newer generations (especially at the point when BW occurs) as they would all be just learning to speak English from the get go.

Obviously, something changed in the transition from UPL to UED since if that hardline stance on foreign languages was still around (we're not told otherwise), Stukov wouldn't even be in the position he was in the first place.

[Visions of Khas]

Obviously, something changed in the transition from UPL to UED since if that hardline stance on foreign languages was still around (we're not told otherwise), Stukov wouldn't even be in the position he was in the first place.

That in itself would be very interesting to explore. Where once the UPL hated deviants and psychics, the UED makes use of Ghosts. Could be that Ghosts are simply seen as being less than human, seen as simply instruments of war.