Alien languages

Overview

For a bit of fun, the creators of Futurama placed messages throughout the series encoded in some imaginary alien languages. There are at least two languages known to exist in the show, though some believe a 3rd language was introduced in the final season.

AL1

The first alien language (AL1) was a simple substitution-cypher. This means that each latin letter was replaced with a new symbol. The language can be translated into english simply by learning each symbol, or by looking it up in a table.

In the episode Leela's Homeworld, the language is referred to as "Alienese".

Symbols

This translation table shows all known AL1 symbols.

Appearances

Opening Sequence

• NNY Bilboards
  • Red sign near the begining reads "3D Rulez!"
  • Yellow sign on top-right reads "Tasty Human Burgers"

Season 1

Space Pilot 3000

• When Fry and Bender first meet, after the suicide booth incident, they go to a bar. Behind them is a Slurm poster, which translates to "Drink".

• When Fry and Bender are escaping down the grate, there is graffiti on the wall of the alley. It says: "Venusians Go Home"

The Series Has Landed

• There is a sign near the souvineer stand that reads "Tasty Human Burgers"

Fear of a Bot Planet

• Leela's Blurnsball scorecard features various AL1 letters and numbers, but no meaning can be extracted.

My Three Suns

• In "Little Neptune"...
  • A shop across the street from the alley where fry first meets the organ dealer has a sign over the door that says "Market"
  • The "Head Shop" they pass has a sign on the door that says "Open"
  • They walk past a "Televideo" which has a small keypad, containing a key for the numbers in AL1.
• On Trisol, one of the signs next to the emperor is in AL1. It reads "Please don't drink the Emperor."

Fry and the Slurm Factory

• A long disclaimer appears durring the Slurm commercial about the contest. The disclaimer reads "The following species are ineligible: Space wasps, space beavers, any other animal with the word "space" in front of it, space chickens, and the elusive yakface."
• The eye chart in Dr. Zoidberg's office is in alienese, and contains a funny message. The chart in english:

  N O 
 S Q U I 
 N T I N G
 F  O U  R
 E  Y E  S

"Disposable Human Temps"

"Joyeux Noex"

Season 2

Xmas Story

• When Fry is leaving the pet store, he passes a window with a sign reading "Joyex Noex," which means "Happy Xmas" in an incomprehensible dead language.
• When the crew is returning home with their Xmas tree, you see a "Human Power" bilboard that reads "Disposable Human Temps"

AL2

The second alien language was more complicated, and is not for the faint of heart. Each symbol had a numerical value. To decode a message, the first symbol's value is translated directly into a character (0='A', 1='B', and so on). For the remaining letters, you subtract the previous symbol's numerical value. If the result is less than zero, you add 26. Then that number is converted into a character as before. Unfortunately, the symbols for 1 and 22 have never been seen.

Symbols

Appearances

stub

Links

Aliens Unlimited