The truth is that at the timeDragon Ball Z‘ was a shock in many ways, but mostly it started off strong by revealing that Goku was actually an alien of the Saiyan race.
The series took different paths than what we were used to and led us through different corners of the universe visiting several very different planets… and as if that were not enough, then in ‘Dragon Ball Super’ we also have a huge clash between different universes and their inhabitants. So if we’re picky and considering how many planets and universes there are… How come all the characters communicate smoothly?
The same base for all
The short answer is that on Earth where much of the story takes place, everyone speaks the same language. It is a great country led by a king and it is divided into 43 different zones but they share the same language, although some territories have their own native language.
So all the inhabitants of the planet know this common language, and there are even some animals like Oolong or Puar that can speak it. In fact, during the manga series you can see posters written in Japanese, English and Chinese. Later on you can also see some unknown symbols that correspond to the Namekian language… Because yes, things get complicated if we already left the planet.
In the main universe of ‘Dragon Ball’ there are up to seven thousand languagesbut even if each planet has its own native language all the inhabitants of the universe speak this common language that is also spoken on Earth. This is how they can communicate, even though they belong to different planets.
Toriyama already confirmed this a long time ago, during the Namek Saga of ‘Dragon Ball Z’, in which the Namekians try to speak Namekian with Frieza and he orders them to speak to them in a language he knows: the universal.
This not only applies to mortals and humans, but apart from having their own language, the gods, demons and other beings of the underworld and the afterlife also know the universal language of Universe 6. And since the operation of the twelve universes of ‘Dragon Ball’ is practically the same, this also applies even if we change dimensions.
For this reason Goku, Vegeta and company can communicate without problem with the warriors of other universes and any other character. Why everyone in the 12 universes of ‘Dragon Ball’ share a universal common language.
And well, if words and attempts at communication fail… Well, in ‘Dragon Ball’ things can always be cleared up with a good tournament or with a string of Kamehame Ha.