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Subject: A question about Keyes...
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Well, if the regular Covenant were smart, they wouldn't give information to Grunts, so it was possibly Elites with the UNSC Translation equipment, if they gave info to Grunts, theyd be screwed over, because Grunts will give anything to live.

  • 03.10.2008 6:02 AM PDT

Member of the most storied groups on Bungie.net; Last Refuge and KOTOR

Screw keyes,let's talk about Miranda Keyes!(or let's just look at her)

Joking!Honestly he could've just had a UNSC translation device,but really we should just let this point go.

  • 03.12.2008 9:14 PM PDT

Member of the most storied groups on Bungie.net; Last Refuge and KOTOR

Guys what did Captain Keyes say to master chief about what he overheard?I forget... :(

  • 03.12.2008 9:20 PM PDT
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Uh, last time I fooled around with some invisible sangheili, they do, indeed speak english, but they dont have much dialogue, they mostly just laugh or growl, but if you fool with them instead of shooting there heads off, they do indeed have dialogue.

  • 03.13.2008 12:48 PM PDT

Would you be able to bring some of that dialogue here? Or a video?

  • 03.13.2008 1:14 PM PDT

--Dear Father, I've been waiting, I've saved you a seat in hell
--I live to see death, destruction, over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished...
A More Complete Compendium of a Bungie History
-Thanatos 117

That is a very good question.

Yes, we do hear Grunts speak English in Halo 1 and also Elites in Halo 2 and 3. The Mark V armor has translation software that is much more primitive then the Mark VI armor which improves on this for tactical use. Which is why we understand Elites in Halo 2 and 3 and not in Halo 1. A side note: The Elites technically speak English in Halo 1 but it's actually reversed to give the illusion of them speaking another language. For example, wort wort wort played backwards is go go go. But that's not the point. I can only guess why Captain Keyes understands the guards, and my best guess is his Central Neural Interface (CNI) has some translation software programmed into it.

  • 03.13.2008 1:38 PM PDT
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To play or not to play....

I would imagine that the Elites would question captured humans in english. So why couldn't some humans (such as Keyes) know Elite speak?

  • 03.15.2008 2:32 AM PDT

--Dear Father, I've been waiting, I've saved you a seat in hell
--I live to see death, destruction, over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished...
A More Complete Compendium of a Bungie History
-Thanatos 117

In the case of Captain Keyes and his party, they were the first human's ever known to be captured by the Covenant. Up until then, the Covenant has never taken human prisoners of war. In the novel Halo: The Flood we see the Elites use a translation device to speak to the human's to determine who Captain Keyes was. The Covenant languages aren't easy to be fluent in with Grunt's squeals and barks and Elites four mandibles would make it damn near impossible to mimic let alone understand, which is why both sides use translation software.

  • 03.15.2008 1:05 PM PDT
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I forgot about this thread... :S

Very nice input Thanatos! I don't think Keyes' neural interface would have a translator... What do neural interfaces normally contain? Software or just stored information? Anyone know?

  • 03.18.2008 3:30 AM PDT

If you read the first book "Halo fall of reach" you will learn sometime in that years before the covenent attacked, they studied out language and sent us messages, besides the one that they just fire plasma at us. So I would infer that perhaps Keys studied thier language or the elites were practicing there human skills.
OR, they told the marines that because they thought that they would be executed soon after thier capture, so they have no value to the information. Ill sleep on it for a while.

  • 03.18.2008 1:35 PM PDT

--Dear Father, I've been waiting, I've saved you a seat in hell
--I live to see death, destruction, over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished...
A More Complete Compendium of a Bungie History
-Thanatos 117

Posted by: THE CHIEF 87
I forgot about this thread... :S

What do neural interfaces normally contain? Software or just stored information? Anyone know?


In the case of Captain Keyes (because every ship commander is fitted with one), the CNI is mainly for data storage such as codes, NAV, and telemetry. Why I threw this theory out there is the CNI can also be accessed by AI's, in this case Cortana, which had the same abilities of translating. Another thing is, they can be upgraded for "specialized functions", as we see with the Master Chief when he was given the new (at that time) Mark V armor and Cortana.


Posted by: Loning Drow
So I would infer that perhaps Keys studied thier language or the elites were practicing there human skills.


I don't see why Keyes would think he would need to know Covenant some day. He knew they didn't take prisoners. And I don't think Elites would practice human skills, mainly because they view everything about us (at that time) with absolute hatred. Covenant warriors have been known to rather fight hand to hand when unarmed then to pick up a nearby human weapon.

  • 03.18.2008 2:12 PM PDT
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aka lino4

Most of the PC issues posted here are the result of PEBKAC.

Posted by: spartandew
HEY I HAVE NOTICED NOBODY HERE KNOWS THAT THE ELITES SPEAK ENGLISH BUT BACKWARDS.


Actually the Elites lines are Sergent Johnson's lines played backwards.

  • 03.19.2008 10:49 PM PDT

The CNI is a possible way to understand the gist of the Elites' language, but I think I have a different approach. I'm thinking that it's much more likely that the Grunts were casually speaking to each other while guarding the room, and the Captain overheard/translated their speech, or the gist of it, which is why he said the "Covenant think Halo is a weapon", which they actually revere as a way to get to the end of the Great Journey.

  • 03.20.2008 8:41 AM PDT
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To play or not to play....

I would imagine it would be easier to understand a language than to actually speak it. I can understand words and even some phrases from people I interact with quite easily even though I don't have any clue how to speak a second language. I would imagine people with proper training could understand the basic language of their primary enemy.

Translation software and devices make the job a fair bit easier and far more accurate.

Knowing the basics of your enemies language could be handy for someone who may have access to intercepted communications and or technology belonging to the enemy. I am not talking 100% fluent just enough to know what they are on about. Grunts would be hard to understand but Elites might be a bit easier.



[Edited on 03.22.2008 2:58 AM PDT]

  • 03.22.2008 2:55 AM PDT
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Your theory works with most European languages, but if you were spoken to by someone an an Asian or African language I don't think it would be so easy...

I don't think it would be possible for Keyes to just listen to the Elites' gibberish and somehow decipher a word here and there, unless he had studied the language previously.
I don't think this is a 'solvable' question... We need a writer to enlighten us...

  • 03.22.2008 4:42 AM PDT

I always offer fair game and usually allow some "extermination" of my teammates. I think that anyone should be able to play Halo or any other game they please.

In Halo:Ghosts of Onyx, the Covenant ship commander said" You still have 1 fight left in you. Then you shall die like the rest of your kind". To which Kurt, a spartan-2,says" Don't you know,Spartans never die." Then he blows up the nukes,killing them all.
this is what they say in the Fall of REACH:
"Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument." That's about it. And it was translated so the humans would know why they were being killed.[/quote]

  • 03.22.2008 9:09 AM PDT

I always offer fair game and usually allow some "extermination" of my teammates. I think that anyone should be able to play Halo or any other game they please.

[quote]Posted by: Thanatos 117
In the case of Captain Keyes and his party, they were the first humans ever known to be captured by the Covenant. Up until then, the Covenant has never taken human prisoners of war.

In the book,Halo:fall of REACH,they talk about another planet,how they watched as Grunts and Jackals tore Human P.O.W.s apart.

  • 03.24.2008 11:14 AM PDT

--Dear Father, I've been waiting, I've saved you a seat in hell
--I live to see death, destruction, over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished...
A More Complete Compendium of a Bungie History
-Thanatos 117

In the book,Halo:fall of REACH,they talk about another planet,how they watched as Grunts and Jackals tore Human P.O.W.s apart.
True, I misspoke. I meant they never took prisoners of war for the conventional purpose human's are used to: interrogation. The lower class Grunt's and Jackal's would only capture them to actually feast on. Elite's have been known to take prisoners as well, but only momentarily as target practice.

  • 03.24.2008 11:33 AM PDT
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Posted by: spartandew
HEY I HAVE NOTICED NOBODY HERE KNOWS THAT THE ELITES SPEAK ENGLISH BUT BACKWARDS.
wait if that is true then wort wort wort would be trow trow trow

  • 05.05.2008 2:11 PM PDT
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I think in the book, cortana says that the cov can speak english because they use some software that allows them to understand english themselves but i would have to read the book again. through the book The Flood the cov speak to humans on different occasions such as when they took over a pelican and made its pilots fly staight toward the butte we're the marines were all held up

[Edited on 05.05.2008 5:07 PM PDT]

  • 05.05.2008 4:45 PM PDT

--Dear Father, I've been waiting, I've saved you a seat in hell
--I live to see death, destruction, over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished...
A More Complete Compendium of a Bungie History
-Thanatos 117

Posted by: daniel1900
Posted by: spartandew
HEY I HAVE NOTICED NOBODY HERE KNOWS THAT THE ELITES SPEAK ENGLISH BUT BACKWARDS.
wait if that is true then wort wort wort would be trow trow trow
How it is spelled backwards is not how it is pronounced backwards. He is correct, the Elite's language is just reversed English. But wort wort wort played backwards turns out to be "go go go".

  • 05.05.2008 5:40 PM PDT
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Posted by: Thanatos 117
Posted by: daniel1900
Posted by: spartandew
HEY I HAVE NOTICED NOBODY HERE KNOWS THAT THE ELITES SPEAK ENGLISH BUT BACKWARDS.
wait if that is true then wort wort wort would be trow trow trow
How it is spelled backwards is not how it is pronounced backwards. He is correct, the Elite's language is just reversed English. But wort wort wort played backwards turns out to be "go go go".
oh my bad

  • 05.06.2008 8:51 AM PDT
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lol i call carrier flood forms "PREGOS"

  • 05.30.2008 11:09 AM PDT

I always offer fair game and usually allow some "extermination" of my teammates. I think that anyone should be able to play Halo or any other game they please.

Posted by: Spartan 04
I think in the book, cortana says that the cov can speak english because they use some software that allows them to understand english themselves but i would have to read the book again. through the book The Flood the cov speak to humans on different occasions such as when they took over a pelican and made its pilots fly staight toward the butte we're the marines were all held up


That was the covenant.

  • 05.30.2008 11:55 AM PDT

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