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

[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.