Discussion post: The Groot language

[sholio]

Hi! I'm going to be doing the next few discussion posts so lynnenne can take a break. (And thank you for all the discussion topics the last few months, lynnenne! <3)

This week's discussion topic is Groot, the language. Somehow three words, always in the same order, seem to be able to convey all the meaning normally found in a language, so how does that work, exactly? When we hear "I am Groot," is that what he's actually saying, or is the translator choking on it somehow and that's all it can produce? Does the language have tones that are beyond the normal human range of hearing? Incredibly fine shades of meaning encoded in slightly different pitches? However it works, we know non-Groots can learn it, since Rocket and Thor both know it, so it presumably doesn't involve something like telepathy or pheromones. (Or does it?)

Have you seen any fanworks that handled it in a particularly clever or interesting way?

All your Groot language headcanons - go!

Comments

[lynnenne]

I'm going to go with "incredibly fine shades of meaning encoded in slightly different pitches." Groot is a pretty expressive character, and he puts a lot of emotion into each pronouncement. So he's probably capable of extremely subtle variances in tone and pitch that can be learned by non-Groots with a lot of practice.

[sholio]

Yeah, that totally makes sense! It does explain why not very many people can understand it, but it's entirely possible for anyone to learn it if they put the effort into it. And also might explain why Rocket understands but doesn't speak it - it would probably be harder to learn to accurately produce the sounds than to understand a language like that.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Hasn't there been greater and lesser sibilance? (In some languages this is dark versus light version of a letter) Speed?

Now, what happens if a Groot sprouts in Brooklyn?

[sholio]

Now, what happens if a Groot sprouts in Brooklyn?

He learns to say "I am Groot" with a Brooklyn accent. :D

... but yeah, languages on Earth have many different ways of distinguishing meaning, only some of which exist in English -- light and dark letters, aspirated vs. unaspirated letters, tones, etc, so I could definitely see the Groot language having meaning encoded in fine nuances of pitch, tone, sound, and so forth that are not equally meaningful to nonspeakers.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

How disturbed does this make Tony?

[kore]

Incredibly fine shades of meaning encoded in slightly different pitches?

I'd go with that, didn't Vin Diesel say "I am Groot" something like over one thousand times? (Stamina!) ....the pheromones idea is kinda intriguing, tho. (Language pollen??)

[sholio]

I love that, even though he only had one line with three words in it, Vin Diesel really went for it. :D

It does certainly make sense that the Groot language could encode meanings in fine shades of tone, pitch, phonemes, etc, that sound basically the same to nonspeakers.