#I think the boring but most likely answer here would be french#if the events of the story take place in the 18th century it's very likely that walton (an educated man) Would know it#but what's very interesting is that Shelley specifies that the Creature learns french!#but it's the only time (in a book which contains a lot shifting perspectives) that the topic of language really comes up#as far as I remember (via @ratuszarsenal)
Yeah, it seems the most likely! :D And also the most preferred answer I think, seeing the tags and comments.
But you're wrong on the topic of language, it comes up many times! In fact, only Victor's time at the university, and the conversation between Walton and the Creature is missing, among all the mentions of characters of different nationalities speaking with each other
In letter IV (in the 1818 edition), Walton writes about Victor:
On perceiving me, the stranger addressed me in English, although with a foreign accent.
Safie's language (the Creature learned French because she was learning French):
I soon perceived that although the stranger uttered articulate sounds and appeared to have a language of her own, she was neither understood by nor herself understood the cottagers
Mentions of The Creature speaking or reading are always about French:
Fortunately the books were written in the language the elements of which I had acquired at the cottage; they consisted of Paradise Lost, a volume of Plutarch's Lives, and the Sorrows of Werter.
'By your language, stranger, I suppose you are my countryman;—are you French?'
'No; but I was educated by a French family, and understand that language only. [Volume II, Chapter VII, 1818 edition]
After Victor destroys the female creation and threw the remains and his chemical instruments into the sea, he's found by the Irishmen who spoke English:
As it was, I merely remarked that they spoke English, and I therefore addressed them in that language. “My good friends,” said I, “will you be so kind as to tell me the name of this town and inform me where I am?” [Volume III, Chapter III, 1818 edition]
The nurse of the jail he was put in afterwards:
Her tone expressed her entire indifference; she addressed me in English, and the voice struck me as one that I had heard during my sufferings [Volume III, Chapter IV, 1818 edition]
The magistrate who accused him:
Fortunately, as I spoke my native language, Mr. Kirwin alone understood me; (...)
His countenance expressed sympathy and compassion; he drew a chair close to mine, and addressed me in French— [Volume III, Chapter IV, 1818 edition]
And also the book has several mentions of various character's nationalities, like Walton's lieutenant is described as an Englishman, Frankenstein's family is Genevese but the families living around them are married to the French and English etc etc.
Funnily enough, noone is described as speaking German, despite so much of the plot taking place in Germany (both Ingolstadt, as well as the French family's cottage are located in Germany)
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