Would it ever be possible to build a universal language translator?
If you mean a universal language translator that is essentially a huge database of all known languages that’s programmed to translate from one to the other, I’d say yes, it should be possible. Although programming it with idomatic phrases would be tricky, I still think it could be done, with either our existing stechnology or technology that will be available in the near future. If you mean a “universal translater” along the lines of what we see in Star Trek, where the translator is able to (supposedly) recognize common concepts and brain wave patterns and somehow correlate them, I’d have to say it’s not very likely. I won’t say it’s impossible because it might not be, though it’s not feasible with our current level of technology or any foreseeable advances.
