Martian n. 2

the language of Martians

Language

  • 1898 G. P. Serviss Edison’s Conquest of Mars in Los Angeles Herald 6 Mar. 22/7 page image Garrett P. Serviss bibliography

    I cannot undertake to say precisely how much of the Martian language had been acquired by the chief linguists of the expedition before the time when we arrived so near to Mars that it became necessary for most of us to abandon our studies in order to make ready for the more serious business which now confronted us.

  • 1900 Harper’s Weekly 24 Mar. 277/3

    In her sleep she speaks and writes a language presumed to be Martian.

  • 1928 H. Gernsback Baron Münchhausen’s Scientific Adventures in Amazing Stories May 151/1 page image Hugo Gernsback

    For the next hour or more we had our first lesson in ‘Martian’. In easy stages our host first flashed simple pictures into our minds, which were then followed by scenes with various actions and explanations just as in a moving picture scene.

  • 1937 R. Wilson, Jr. Grogswell Dirk in Cosmic Tales Quarterly (#1) Summer ii. 17 page image Richard Wilson

    ‘Parlez-vous,’ he began, ‘Francais? Hablo usted manana? Nicht war gesundheit? Pro bono pluribus unum? Hoy ping pong? Ja?’ ‘Oui,’ replied the king. ‘Also Greek, Martian, Jovian, Sanskrit and Pig-Latin. Howza boy?’

  • 1943 C. D. Simak Hunch in Astounding Science-Fiction July 19/1 page image Clifford D. Simak bibliography

    It was a roundabout way, a long way, an awkward way to read the language of Mars, Monk reflected. Martian to Jovian to Earthian. But it was better than no way at all.

  • 1947 R. Abernathy Failure on Titan in Planet Stories Winter 63/1 page image Robert Abernathy bibliography

    It was a minute before she could command her voice; then she told Paul Gedner what he was, in terms that Leo Chaikoski would never have thought of, in English, Spanish, and Martian.

  • 1948 L. Brackett Beast-Jewel of Mars in Planet Stories Winter 16/1 page image Leigh Brackett bibliography

    She stared with half-blind eyes at the Earthman, and suddenly she spoke, in sonorous High Martian, a tongue as antique on Mars as Sanskrit is on Earth.

  • 1953 L. S. de Camp Science Fiction Handbook 249 L. Sprague de Camp bibliography

    How do you represent the speech of a man who is ‘really’ speaking some tongue other than modern English—say Chinese or Old High Martian?

  • 1957 E. Hamilton World of Never-Men in Imaginative Tales July 7/1 page image Edmond Hamilton bibliography

    ‘Come out of there,’ he said in rapid Martian.

  • 1969 V. Heinlein Letter 28 Aug. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 178 bibliography

    I seem to be translating Giles Goat Boy into late Martian.

  • 2005 G. Hunt Accidental Spaceship ix. 53 page image

    Sure! Learn to speak Martian. Why not?


Research requirements

antedating 1898

Earliest cite

Garrett Serviss

Research History
Fred Galvin submitted a 1951 cite from Leigh Brackett's "The Beast-Jewel of Mars".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1947 cite from Robert Abernathy's "Failure on Titan".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1948 cite from a letter by John Van Couvering in Planet Stories.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1959 cite from Fancyclopedia II.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1949 cite from Arthur C. Clarke's "The Lion of Comarre".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1949 cite from Ray Bradbury's "The Naming of Names".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1953 cite from L. Sprague de Camp's "Science-Fiction Handbook".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1953 cite from A. Bertram Chandler's "Jetsam".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1943 cite from Clifford Simak's "Hunch".
David Starner submitted a 1901 cite from "From India to the Planet Mars: A Study of a Case of Somnambulism: With Glossolalia" (by Th. Flournoy, translated by Daniel B. Vermilye.)
David Starner submitted a 1921 cite from Punch magazine: an Edgar Rice Burroughs parody "Terribler Than Tarzan" by E.V. Knox.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2005 cite from Gene Hunt.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 1937 cite from Richard Wilson, Jr.
Simon Koppel submitted an 1898 cite from G. P. Serviss for the form "Martian language".

There is no entry for this sense in the OED

Last modified 2024-01-04 17:23:24
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.