I agree with the author of this post: "Ariel, WHY?" It's quite amusing that this simple idea has never crossed my mind. I'm curious to know if the Disney producers ever came across this idea. I mean, now that I've seen it, I can't get it out of my head...it's just SO obvious!
The author even backed her theory by giving proof that Ariel knows how to write. She signed her name (very beautifully I might add) on Ursula's scroll, showing us that she was indeed literate.
I was further inspired by this BuzzFeed article, so I did a quick Google search to see if anyone else was as shocked as I was by this revelation. It turns out, Reddit users were busily discussing this idea a month ago. Some commenters brought about interesting solutions. Perhaps Ariel is shown to speak in the same language, but actually speaks a different "Merpeople" language. To the Disney audience, the various languages seem like one and the same, but there may be variations between English/Danish/Merpeople language that we do not see.
I think that the latter suggestion could have some validity. In Pocahontas, I've always wondered how Pocahontas and John Smith were able to communicate given their language barrier. Perhaps Disney does not mean to imply that they are actually speaking verbally in one coherent language, but rather are communicating in ways that they can both comprehend. Maybe Ariel's "communication" would not be in the same language as Prince Eric and the rest of the people on land.
Unfortunately, I think I will have to accept the fact that this pressing question will never have a resolute solution.
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