Language in the Twelve Colonies

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So, what links lead here?

There are too many to bother wasting our time listing. So here's a list of pages that link here. English, or some language that is universally translated into it (à la Tolkien) is standard. Loanwords from foreign languages ("fascist", "karma", "esprit de corps" etc.) occur with normal frequency, as do chronologically enigmatic borrowings such as the battlestar Columbia. Most religious terms are explicitly shared with ancient greek beliefs (either antecedent to or descendent from them).

Vocabulary

Anachronisms

Battlestar Galactica uses many terms from modern day naval aviation, which appear somewhat anachronistic but also lend the show a flavor of realistic jargon. These include:

• Combat Air Patrol
• Commander Air Group
• Planes

Adama: You keep my planes flying. I need my planes to fly. (Litmus)

Ersatz

In contrast to its predecessor, the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica employs relatively little in the way of ersatz vocabulary. It does employ a few terms outside of a normal american english vocabulary, mostly military jargon. These are mixed in haphazardly with the real-life naval aviation terms above.

• Dradis - Radar
• Fumarella leaf - Tobacco
• Frak - A bowdlerized version of "Fuck" (c.f. "Frell" (Farscape), "Frag" (Babylon 5), "Smeg" (Red Dwarf))
• G-4 - C-4
• Krypter - Mayday
• Morpha - Morphine
• Serisone - Prednisone
• Wireless - Radio

Invented Terminology

As all science fiction shows must, Battlestar Galactica has a set of vocabulary referring to technologies and other items not shared with the real world.

• Ambrosia - a bright green alcoholic beverage
• Carom - the angle above or below the XY plane of a vessel, perpendicular to bearing (c.f. "Mark" (Star Trek))
• Chamalla - an entheogen used by priests
• Red Line

Honorifics

Although the Colonials use the honorific "Madam" (as in, Madam President), its shortened form "Ma'am" is not used in the military. All superior officers are referred to as "Sir", regardless of gender.

Accents

Most characters speak with a Standard American accent, with some exceptions.

English Accent

Two characters speak with the Received Pronunciation, Dr. Gaius Baltar of Caprica and ship's medic Ishay. Other characters from Caprica do not share this accent.

Spanish Accent

Giana, a woman rescued from Caprica by Sharon Valerii, spoke with a Spanish accent, and inquired after the whereabouts of her husband, who she stated was "stationed on Gemenon". Her place of origin is unclear, but no other characters from either Caprica, Gemenon, or anywhere else have shared this accent. The actress, Lymari Nadal, is from Puerto Rico.

Aerelon Accent

In the episode "Flesh and Bone", Baltar noted that Sharon Valerii spoke with a trace of an Aerelon accent. The actress who portrays her, Grace Park, is fluent in both English and Korean, but speaks Standard American English without a foreign accent.

Kiwi Accent

The reporter D'anna Biers speaks with a Kiwi/New Zealand accent (this is actually the accent that actress Lucy Lawless speaks with when off screen, because she is from New Zealand). However, the same episode revealed that D'anna is actually a Humano-Cylon, and another copy of D'anna on Cylon-occupied Caprica does not speak with this accent, but a Standard American one. This seems to imply that D'anna's entire personality was for show, and that the Cylons seem to use more standardized pronunciation when amongst themselves (Final Cut).

Liturgy

During the funeral service at the end of the Mini-series, Priest Elosha chants a prayer in a foreign language. It is recognizable as a common Sanskrit prayer, found in Part I, Chapter III, Verse 28 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

Sanskrit	Transliteration	Translation
अस्तो मा सद् गमय	ásato ma sád gamaya	Lead me from unreal to Real
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय	támaso ma jyótir gamaya	Lead me from darkness to Light
मृत्योन् मा अमृतं गमय्	mrtyór mamrtam gamaya	Lead me from death to Immortality

Although the lyrics are identifiable, it should be noted that the actress's performance is closer to the chanting of biblical Hebrew, and does not resemble the traditional melody.