Alien languages

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".

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.

Not until the release of was the symbol 1 ("B") known.

Note: If you ever see two identical symbols in a row, the second is always an "A".

Note

 * Many fans think that AL1 is Alienese and AL2 is Betacrypt 3. Although Alienese is used to refer to AL1 in one episode, Betacrypt 3 is never actually linked to either AL1 or AL2. Throughout the audio commentaries, the creators refer to each language as "Alien Language one" and "Alien Language two"&mdash;so we use the same standard here.
 * In the commentary for "A Bicyclops Built for Two," David X. Cohen makes note of some fans referring to AL2 as Betacrypt 3. It is seen on a door to a chat room.

Links

 * Alien Languages of Futurama - A very good AL2 translator.
 * Alien Language Translations--A site with excellent alien language translations for each episode and other Futurama related media.