What is the "official language" of Macross

[EXO]

lol... just that there are obvious examples that there are multiple human languages still in existance after the rain of death. I don't really have a side on the official language thing. I'm just pointing out that you can't neccisarly use that to prove the point.

What about we use this so called "logic" thing.

1. Anime aesthetic: so anything and everything can aesthetic, even if there's pictures. Why even bother with going on from the OP? Just lock the thread after "everything is aesthetic."

2. Misa is multilinguistic: Andif she is, why would she choose English? If she knew English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Bohemian or Klingon... you'd expect an intelligent high level military personell to choose any language arbitrarily?

3 It's a movie: again... choosing the language, it's after Space War One, Most of the planet's civilization was wiped out and then repopulated. The Entertainment business once again becomes lucrative enough to make a movie about the one major catastrophic event that every person can still relate to... English was chosen due to a coin toss?

Maybe you should look up the word "logic" before you use it as an argument.

[lord_breetai]

What about we use this so called "logic" thing.

1. Anime aesthetic: so anything and everything can aesthetic, even if there's pictures. Why even bother with going on from the OP? Just lock the thread after "everything is aesthetic."

2. Misa is multilinguistic: Andif she is, why would she choose English? If she knew English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Bohemian or Klingon... you'd expect an intelligent high level military personell to choose any language arbitrarily?

3 It's a movie: again... choosing the language, it's after Space War One, Most of the planet's civilization was wiped out and then repopulated. The Entertainment business once again becomes lucrative enough to make a movie about the one major catastrophic event that every person can still relate to... English was chosen due to a coin toss?

Maybe you should look up the word "logic" before you use it as an argument.

The thing is if you're at all equated with Japanese society, English is considered "cool", a lot of younger Japanese will use english they picked up to sound cool (I could tell you a story about a band my girlfriend's friend works with in Japan, misusing random english but it'd get me banned). So the aesthetic is a huge part of it. The original Macross had poems going across the screen about cats swiming and playing with fish... I guess we shouldn't take that as an aesthetic choice... that's really the file the Zentraedi (who despite their cultural failings are master linguists and codebreakers) sent to the Macross and the dumb bridge crew didn't think that was strange at all.

I guess we should ignore the French and the Japanese that show up in Macross Frontier, and the fact that Fire Bomber has a cover band who released an album called English Fire (they apparantly have a cover band that released their songs in Zolan too) and yes English fire is Canon... you hear the space poachers listening to it in Dynamite 7. Why would a band need to cover you in English and make a specific point of it "this is Fire Bomber American!" if it was already in English to start with?

Yes there's enough evidence to support that air traffic control is in English... they make a point of pointing that out.

"all systems green good luck to you"

"Frontier Control this is _____ belong to Galaxy Starliner, respond to me Frontier Control"

Why bother making these an exception if everyone is talking in English all the time? Then they could still be talking in Japanese and it would be English right?

But if Japanese is one of the prevalant languages in the galaxy after Space War 1, then you still have to contend with the Japanese post-war fascination with the English language born out of the love/hate/awe/fear mix of feelings that they have towards the United Sates.

So the Aesthetic arguement is valid and can't be dismissed so lightly, nor can the real life Japanese fascination with English be dismissed either.

Yes English is probably one of the dominate languages out there, but why put signs in Japanese on Frontier if there arn't Japanese speakers out there. And why would Sheryl write a note in French if it's a dead language, she's not that much of a scholar or even that much of a primadona... to use a dead language just to give herself airs (though she's kinda close on that last point).

but I don't think one screencap proves anything. There are probably different fleets that have different languages at the very least we've got three known active languages in the Universe: Zolan, Zentraedi and English (per English Fire, and actual dialog in English in the series we have to accept that as at least one living human language). Now if different fleets and different planets use different languages. DYRL probably got released in diffferent languages and it might have even had an international cast.

We don't know who the ficticious screenwriter or director of DYRL are... how do we know that wasn't a stylistic choice on his account. Or that Misa's actress only knew how to work a computer in English so had to do the scene that way?

There are too many variables.

Now Frontier I'll give you, I think the official language of the Frontier fleet is English (proably also Chinese and Japanese speakers on board as has already been mentioned). We see them reading information about a play in English... that's reasonably solid (taking aside the fact that it was copy pasta lazyness) , but we also see multilingual signs... are you just going to ignore that and say it's a convention for the Japanese audience? You cant have it both ways.

The way I see it there are multiple languages... the list we have is

Human:

Japanese

Chinese

French

English

Zentraedi

and Zolan representing the only other major race we know of.

There may be more surviving human languages, and more alien languages for all we know.

But to say because Misa translated a song into English in a movie in the ficticious world of Macross means the bulk of the survivors speak that language dosn't hold ground.

I see Macross 7 as a Japanese speaking fleet.

Macross 11 as an English Speaking fleet

Macross 5 as a Zentraedi speaking fleet

Macross Frontier being a country unto itself and not just a city is probably multi-lingual with English being the official language.

Earth is probably multi-lingual.

I reserve judgement on Eden, I'd have to rewatch Macross Plus.

on Zola, the locals speak Zolan and some human language.

edit: I was being slightly silly before, but now I hope you can respect my arguement a bit more.

but here's an old joke for you

Q: What do you call someone who speaks two languages?

A: Bilingual

Q: What do you call someone who speaks three languages?

A: Trilingual

Q: 4 or more?

A: Multilingual

Q: How about just one?

A: American

from the North American stand point it's hard to invision tons of people knowing multiple languages, when in much of the world this is the Norm... in Germany they are required to learn multiple languages for example. And not just a brief exposure.

So one isolated instance of a language proves nothing, especially when it's in a work of fiction of a people who like using english and exotic languages to give things flavour, and that work of fiction is a work of fiction in the fictious world where people might have the same tendencies.

Edited October 27, 2008 by lord_breetai

[RichterX]

i agree with exo's points

The language official international language before and after Space War 1 seems to had been english. After that, i don't know.

[sketchley]

I agree with Lord Breetai.

[RichterX]

Ok after space war 1 everyone got installed an universal translator.

[EXO]

I agree with EXO!

[lord_breetai]

I agree with EXO!

That's nice, ask him when he has time if he actually has any counters for my arguements... that's if he dosn't think I'm just saying whatever makes me happy and being illogical.

If we're going get down to "I agree with so and so" let's make it really dramatic. Marvel Comics style!

World War 3, whose side are you on?

I'm with lord breetai

And please forgive the typos. My spellcheck isn't working and I've been up all night. Now I have to get to class, so the floor is all yours Exo; have fun.

[EXO]

That's nice, ask him when he has time if he actually has any counters for my arguements... that's if he dosn't think I'm just saying whatever makes me happy and being illogical.

If we're going get down to "I agree with so and so" let's make it really dramatic. Marvel Comics style!

And please forgive the typos. My spellcheck isn't working and I've been up all night. Now I have to get to class, so the floor is all yours Exo; have fun.

Actually, no... I don't have time or plan to make time to read that. Besides anyone that needs to write that much just to convince others can't be that good at it. Holy cow, it's a forum not a freaking essay class. Like I said, my proof is solid as the lineart. Even if I read that, it's still all going to based on your speculation on what you think the cartoon is "supposedly telling you. have fun in class... don't bore your teacher to death...

[regult]

Would be nice if we could

Can we

They spoke tree and birdy num-num didn't they

Seems somebody had a very bad hangover with Zero...but purging it from the timeline would mean that would probably erase half of the Frontier story too, remember Sheryl NOME ("hopes and dreams"), granddaughter of Doctor Mao Nome, who played an important role researching the Vajra with the Grace O'Connor, bearer of "nightmares and dispair"??? You don't want the shippers chasing after you for having "erased" Sheryl!

from the North American stand point it's hard to invision tons of people knowing multiple languages, when in much of the world this is the Norm... in Germany they are required to learn multiple languages for example. And not just a brief exposure.

So one isolated instance of a language proves nothing, especially when it's in a work of fiction of a people who like using english and exotic languages to give things flavour, and that work of fiction is a work of fiction in the fictious world where people might have the same tendencies.

This fiction within fiction thing is a bit like Russian Matryoska dolls...but I get your point, although the fact that you point out Americans cannot envision a multilingual self-enclosed environment (Colonization ship or real-world "country" or "state") is contradictory in itself (I do have the same feeling than you, and I am not American either, which could be a liability for our judgement), given my experiences in the US, it's probably one of the most multilingual places on Earth. Maybe the problem is what we'd consider to be "an American"...remember the natives at all??

Honestly, I don't think the producers and writers ever gave second thoughts on the language issue when writing the stories and drawing the interfaces...but if the naming of the VF fighters is any indication, English presence is quite heavy, but again this could be part of the "cool factor" that lord breetai was talking about

[RichterX]

Better yet, I believe in Exo!

[Mr March]

I blame EXO!

[lord_breetai]

Actually, no... I don't have time or plan to make time to read that. Besides anyone that needs to write that much just to convince others can't be that good at it. Holy cow, it's a forum not a freaking essay class. Like I said, my proof is solid as the lineart. Even if I read that, it's still all going to based on your speculation on what you think the cartoon is "supposedly telling you. have fun in class... don't bore your teacher to death...

Oh Exo, did you ever consider I was just having fun with this topic? that's why I was playful and short until you insulted my grasp on logic. But I also had fun posting a list of different reasons why my arguement is logical. If you don't enjoy reading it then don't. But I'll make it easy and summarize a few hard hitters for a multi-lingual galaxy at the bottom.

This fiction within fiction thing is a bit like Russian Matryoska dolls...but I get your point, although the fact that you point out Americans cannot envision a multilingual self-enclosed environment (Colonization ship or real-world "country" or "state") is contradictory in itself (I do have the same feeling than you, and I am not American either, which could be a liability for our judgement), given my experiences in the US, it's probably one of the most multilingual places on Earth. Maybe the problem is what we'd consider to be "an American"...remember the natives at all??

Honestly, I don't think the producers and writers ever gave second thoughts on the language issue when writing the stories and drawing the interfaces...but if the naming of the VF fighters is any indication, English presence is quite heavy, but again this could be part of the "cool factor" that lord breetai was talking about

Well no being Canadian I'm not that far removed... and America is multicultural, but a melting pot... unlike canada's tapestry (to use the tired metaphor) perhaps I should be more blunt, a product of the American education system which does not instill a second language as a neccisity unlike many countries, often has a hard time imagining a society where everyone is at least bilingual to some extent. Obviously there are tons of bi, tri and multilingual Americans. I was making a generalization and for that I'm sorry.

And yes I don't think they give much thought to language either.

again that's why I've got a simply fits what we know...

http://macross.anime.net/wiki/Fire_Bomber_American Macross 11 has a band called Fire Bomber American, they are an english speaking fleet and the band covers Fire Bomber's music and feels the need to call it "English Fire"

why do so if Fire Bomber was already English? So what else could Fire Bomber be? Japanese? Is it not then logical to assume that the Macross 7 fleet speaks Japanese?

If we still have more then one human language left isn't it logical to assume that in a big and diverse place like Frontier which is already multicultural in that it has a special place meant for Zentraedi, has these multiple languages. Even if it is a more American type multicutural set up?

If Sheryl used French... isn't it logical to assume that language still exists too?

[adrianop]

What is this talk all about? Macross Official language is clearly Japanese. I hear it 98% of the time while watching the anime.

[TheLoneWolf]

Both of you are wrong. Kawamori retconned DYRL so that Minmay can now read gibberish.

Though I'm inclined to agree with lord_breetai, the lyrics were probably written in English solely for the cool factor.

[EXO]

Oh Exo, did you ever consider I was just having fun with this topic? that's why I was playful and short until you insulted my grasp on logic. But I also had fun posting a list of different reasons why my arguement is logical. If you don't enjoy reading it then don't. But I'll make it easy and summarize a few hard hitters for a multi-lingual galaxy at the bottom.

You know... my apologies. Not gonna ruin your fun...

ENGLISH!

lol. Lonewolf!

[Mr March]

Both of you are wrong. Kawamori retconned DYRL so that Minmay can now read gibberish.

What are you talking about? I can read that. It reads: "Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here everyday..."

[lord_breetai]

What are you talking about? I can read that. It reads: "Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here everyday..."

My friend mentioned a one point they copy pasta'd an adobe license agreement into a report in Macross F... I'll ask her if she remembers where so we can grab a screen grab of that o so purposfully used English.

[Killer Robot]

My friend mentioned a one point they copy pasta'd an adobe license agreement into a report in Macross F... I'll ask her if she remembers where so we can grab a screen grab of that o so purposfully used English.

Episodes 18 and 23. For the Cinderella's Horn project, and for a medical report. It's a plugin for Adobe After Effects, and as near as I can guess from a quick look at the product page it was used for some of the background visual effects in the Lion OP animation at least. It might be used as placeholder text in other places but I don't recall for sure.

Does she need a doctor, or an uninstaller?

[Renato]

Don't forget in the episode with Alto's training mission, when the bridge girls are looking at the monitor, the information on that Sakura-hime kabuki play was all copy-pasted from an existing site that somebody on here found afterwards. I'm sure the screen grab is there in the Miss Macross episode thread.

[Renato]

Clearly, the United Earth Government is in charge of vast space emigration fleets, many of which speak totally different languages and are like different countries in our world. Here is a scan taken from the transcript of Macross 7 Galaxy Song Battle 1:

To basically summarise, there are so many languages and cultures across space in the world of Macross 7 that for the audience to understand it, they had to make a "Japanese dubbed edition". However, it notes that it is impossible to fully translate everything exactly, so it is important to be aware of this.

Actually, this reminds me of some interview or something regarding the world of Cowboy Bebop, and I believe that Watanabe or somebody said that it should be thought of as the Japanese-dubbed version, because they are actually speaking Chinese and English.

Another point I wanted to make is that in the original Macross, it is rare to see signs and things in Japanese, so I was under the impression that whatever these people are actually speaking, the official language would be English. The same seems to apply in Mac 7 and Plus. However, in Frontier, for the first time we see lots and lots of Japanese being used everywhere, (even when firing the main Quarter gun!) and note that mobile phone texting is all done in Japanese. So, at the very least Alto and his family belong to the Japanese speakers of the group, which are hardly few because they basically have a copy of Shibuya right there in the fleet, so it's to be expected that there are plenty of Japanese onboard.

What I'm basically saying is that the official language is usually English, but depending on the cultures being transported within each fleet the actual languages used vary vastly, often within the same fleet.

Edited for (a bit) more clarity.

Edited October 28, 2008 by Renato

[lord_breetai]

Clearly, the United Earth Government is in charge of vast space emigration fleets, many of which speak totally different languages and are like different countries in our world. Here is a scan taken from the transcript of Macross 7 Galaxy Song Battle 1:

To basically summarise, there are so many languages and cultures across space in the world of Macross 7 that for the audience to understand it, they had to make a "Japanese dubbed edition". However, it notes that it is impossible to fully translate everything exactly, so it is important to be aware of this.

Actually, this reminds me of some interview or something regarding the world of Cowboy Bebop, and I believe that Watanabe or somebody said that it should be thought of as the Japanese-dubbed version, because they are actually speaking Chinese and English.

Another point I wanted to make is that in the original Macross, it is rare to see signs and things in Japanese, so I was under the impression that whatever these people are actually speaking, the official language would be English. The same seems to apply in Mac 7 and Plus. However, in Frontier, for the first time we see lots and lots of Japanese being used everywhere, (even when firing the main Quarter gun!) and note that mobile phone texting is all done in Japanese. So, at the very least Alto and his family belong to the Japanese speakers of the group, which are hardly few because they basically have a copy of Shibuya right there in the fleet, so it's to be expected that there are plenty of Japanese onboard.

What I'm basically saying is that the official language is usually English, but depending on the cultures being transported within each fleet the actual languages used vary vastly, often within the same fleet.

Edited for (a bit) more clarity.

Sorta what I was going for was more, English isn't the last Earth language out there... but I still have to maintain that just based on English Fire, and the Zolan versions of Fire Bomber it dosn't make sense for Fire Bomber's music to originally bein English... so even if Macross 7 had lots of English speakers, and even if the official language of the dipolomats and military is English. Just because another band needed to translate their songs and cover them in English it seems to me that Fire Bomber is a Japanese speaking group.

Edited October 28, 2008 by lord_breetai

[Morpheus]

Well, we know there are Japanese, English and French language in Macross Universe, and don't forget Zentraedi language as well.

[d3v]

Again, I believe we have to differentiate between "official language" (that used by the government and the courts) and the common tongue (lingua franca that which is more commonly used by the people on the street). The case where one does not equal the other already happens IRL today (diglossia). It's not hard to imagine that in Macross, where one of the things they're out to accomplish is to preserve human culture, that it occurs as well and is probably even the norm (and possibly even encouraged).

Edited October 28, 2008 by d3v

[lord_breetai]

Well, we know there are Japanese, English and French language in Macross Universe, and don't forget Zentraedi language as well.

And Zolan.

Again, I believe we have to differentiate between "official language" (that used by the government and the courts) and the common tongue (lingua franca that which is more commonly used by the people on the street). The case where one does not equal the other already happens IRL today (diglossia). It's not hard to imagine that in Macross, where one of the things they're out to accomplish is to preserve human culture, that it occurs as well and is probably even the norm (and possibly even encouraged).

Agreed... my point was Exo sorta came off that English is what was used all the time, DYRL was filmed in English (and Zentran obviously lol) etc.

I don't see that has to be the case and at the colony level there could be different official languages, then at the steller or galactic levels (I guess if there is such a thing).

Anyway I still think the civillians of 7 were mostly Japanese speaking per my prior reasoning of the actual Anglo-phone fleet needing to have their own Fire Bomber.

[Killer Robot]

Clearly, the United Earth Government is in charge of vast space emigration fleets, many of which speak totally different languages and are like different countries in our world. Here is a scan taken from the transcript of Macross 7 Galaxy Song Battle 1:

To basically summarise, there are so many languages and cultures across space in the world of Macross 7 that for the audience to understand it, they had to make a "Japanese dubbed edition". However, it notes that it is impossible to fully translate everything exactly, so it is important to be aware of this.

Actually, this reminds me of some interview or something regarding the world of Cowboy Bebop, and I believe that Watanabe or somebody said that it should be thought of as the Japanese-dubbed version, because they are actually speaking Chinese and English.

That's about what I got out of it. It's not uncommon in anime sci-fi for this to be the case. I recall hearing similar creator comments about Trigun, for another example. Watching DYRL recently I was struck by how it opens with announcements in English right up until it shows major characters continuing in Japanese. I recalled the opening of Mel Brooks' version of To Be or Not to Be where it opens with Polish dialogue before a voice comes over the PA system announcing that for audience convenience, the rest of the movie will be in English. Everyone then switches seamlessly, mid musical number.

So yes, I can totally buy that English is a widely used language in the Macross universe, and perhaps the official language of some fleets, of many official communications channels, etc. That said, it's clear a lot of other languages are in use, and given the push of preserving and promoting human culture I would imagine that daily use of other languages is encouraged just to foster keeping those varied cultural flavors: I certainly imagine Frontier's kabuki and enka scenes aren't all English language even if that's what most people are speaking in the street. In addition, surely the sophisticated translation technology gained from the Zentraedi can overcome many of the difficulties of sustaining a highly polylingual society.

As for what language was spoken on Macross 7, I think Fire Bomber American suggests but doesn't settle it. It could mean 7 was Japanese speaking normally: on the other hand, I figure Fire Bomber's songs more come down to the language Basara liked writing in best, and it being different than the local norm might only help explain Fire Bomber's rocky start at home.

[lord_breetai]

That's about what I got out of it. It's not uncommon in anime sci-fi for this to be the case. I recall hearing similar creator comments about Trigun, for another example. Watching DYRL recently I was struck by how it opens with announcements in English right up until it shows major characters continuing in Japanese. I recalled the opening of Mel Brooks' version of To Be or Not to Be where it opens with Polish dialogue before a voice comes over the PA system announcing that for audience convenience, the rest of the movie will be in English. Everyone then switches seamlessly, mid musical number.

So yes, I can totally buy that English is a widely used language in the Macross universe, and perhaps the official language of some fleets, of many official communications channels, etc. That said, it's clear a lot of other languages are in use, and given the push of preserving and promoting human culture I would imagine that daily use of other languages is encouraged just to foster keeping those varied cultural flavors: I certainly imagine Frontier's kabuki and enka scenes aren't all English language even if that's what most people are speaking in the street. In addition, surely the sophisticated translation technology gained from the Zentraedi can overcome many of the difficulties of sustaining a highly polylingual society.

As for what language was spoken on Macross 7, I think Fire Bomber American suggests but doesn't settle it. It could mean 7 was Japanese speaking normally: on the other hand, I figure Fire Bomber's songs more come down to the language Basara liked writing in best, and it being different than the local norm might only help explain Fire Bomber's rocky start at home.

I've actually seen that odly enough done in an english dub of an anime. My "beloved" Sakura Wars series, while the original OVA and movie (and to some extent even the original games) actually used different languages when it was warranted, the Paris set episodes just put in a spattering of French greetings and honorifics. But when the OVA Ecole De Paris OVA was dubbed into English they dubbed the entire first scene in French and the rest of it in English.

[Gubaba]

(and yet another band in Zolan)

This is the second time you've mentioned this...what are you talking about? The Basara/Elma duets from Radio Fire?

Because, if so, it's not a Basara wannabe...it's the man himself.

[lord_breetai]

This is the second time you've mentioned this...what are you talking about? The Basara/Elma duets from Radio Fire?

Because, if so, it's not a Basara wannabe...it's the man himself.

Nah, I was just confused... I thought Elma was singing along to a Zolan band singing the songs but it was just karaoke... been a long time since I watched it.

[lord_breetai]

Okay let me play devil's advocate and take Exo's side.

While I still maintain my belief that 7 is a Japanese fleet, 11 a english fleet, and Frontier a cosmopolitan fleet... I havn't made any decision on the SDF-1... and if I were to base in on DYRL, I would probably say it was officially english with a high Japanese population (Minmay being from Japan although ethnically Chinese, Hikaru, Misa etc)... I think the most solid arguement in DYRL isn't Misa's translating because the aesthetic arguement can be made, isn't the Hikaru fighter launch sequence because you can make the arguement of English being used as a standard by Air Traffic controllers.

The strongest arguement for DYRL for your side is, the transformation announecement which was in English. "Attention, Attention, our ship is to make a transformation in 3 minutes, please go to the nearest shelter as soon as possible".

Hikaru is deffinitly Japanese as is Misa, and Minmay was born in Japan too... so those three probably would be speaking in Japanese at least in private conversations with just them... (just like Minmay and Kaifun probably either spoke Japanese or Chinese with each other).

But... maybe, the SDF-1/Ataria Island was officially English, if we use DYRL as a guide... or maybe it DYRL was in English cause it was made by an English director ^^; who knows.

[sketchley]

I'd always heard that America is the melting pot, Canada is multiculturalism.

(...) and America is multicultural, but a melting pot... unlike canada's tapestry (...)

[lord_breetai]

I'd always heard that America is the melting pot, Canada is multiculturalism.

that's what I said, it's a melting pot unlike canada's "tapestry" we called in grade school. There's this idea, that you have to become american and intergrate into their society accepting American cultural norms in place of your own. But I think that it's not as bad as it used to be, there's more recognition of different cultures now even in Canada then there was even 15 years ago, people are more educated in both countries.

But this is really off topic.

[Ghost Train]

America is more like a salad bar imo.

[d3v]

Okay let me play devil's advocate and take Exo's side.

While I still maintain my belief that 7 is a Japanese fleet, 11 a english fleet, and Frontier a cosmopolitan fleet... I havn't made any decision on the SDF-1... and if I were to base in on DYRL, I would probably say it was officially english with a high Japanese population (Minmay being from Japan although ethnically Chinese, Hikaru, Misa etc)... I think the most solid arguement in DYRL isn't Misa's translating because the aesthetic arguement can be made, isn't the Hikaru fighter launch sequence because you can make the arguement of English being used as a standard by Air Traffic controllers.

The strongest arguement for DYRL for your side is, the transformation announecement which was in English. "Attention, Attention, our ship is to make a transformation in 3 minutes, please go to the nearest shelter as soon as possible".

Hikaru is deffinitly Japanese as is Misa, and Minmay was born in Japan too... so those three probably would be speaking in Japanese at least in private conversations with just them... (just like Minmay and Kaifun probably either spoke Japanese or Chinese with each other).

But... maybe, the SDF-1/Ataria Island was officially English, if we use DYRL as a guide... or maybe it DYRL was in English cause it was made by an English director ^^; who knows.

IMO, it would be safe to posit that at the very least, English and Japanese (and possibly Chinese) were in use in the SDF-1 based on two things: what we've seen in the series (english and japanese) as well as what languages survived into the mid 21st century (as it's highly probable that those languages survived due to being in use in Macross City).

[sketchley]

I've been thinking about this off and on, and there's another angle that hasn't been considered:

names

Yes, in countries like Canada and America, this doesn't mean much of anything. But we must always remember that Macross is made in Japan. Generally, people with a non-Japanese name are from a different country and tend to speak Japanese 2nd (or 3rd or whatever) and their native language first.

Based on that, the vast majority of characters in Macross are Japanese speaking. There is a smattering of other languages and even some mixed ones (Isamu is Japanese and English?)

I must stress that this isn't intended to replace previous arguements. Rather to support them. (I like the idea of English being the official language, but not the common language of the people.)

[Gubaba]

IMO, it would be safe to posit that at the very least, English and Japanese (and possibly Chinese) were in use in the SDF-1 based on two things: what we've seen in the series (english and japanese) as well as what languages survived into the mid 21st century (as it's highly probable that those languages survived due to being in use in Macross City).

DEFINITELY Chinese. There's an ad for "Shao Pai Long" on the Miss D.J. album that has a snippet of dialogue from the film...and it's in Chinese.