Is there something special going on with "I've" in regard of Data's inability to use contractions?

Question

I am confused about Data's use of ”I've”.

One of the first things that we learn about Data in TNG is that he cannot use contractions.
“I've” is a contraction, yet I'm pretty certain I've heard him saying that in what feels to be every episode of TNG.

Then again, I don't specifically remember him using other contractions, so I thought that maybe “I've” is somehow special, and is excluded from the notion of "contractions" in-universe.

But then I watched s03e16, "The Offspring".

At around 24:00, the following dialog takes place in Ten Forward:

Lal: I've been programmed with a listing of 14 hundred and 12 known beverages...
Guinan: What did you just say?
Lal: I've been programmed with a listing of 14 hundred...
Guinan: "I've"?
Data: You have used a verbal contraction.
Guinan: You said "I've" instead of "I have".
Data: It is a skill my program has never mastered.

And to top that, a bit later in the same episode, at around 30:30 we have:

Data: She can use contractions. I cannot.
Admiral Haftel: An aberration? What have you done about this?
Data: I've maintained records on positronic matrix activity, behavioral norms and all verbal patterns. I've seen no other evidence of aberration.

I can understand the actor letting it slip every now and then without noticing.
I understand the members of the crew (both the filming crew and the Enterprise crew) not noticing too in normal circumstances, thus letting a couple loose in each episode.

But using a contraction in the next sentence after saying that he cannot do that? Twice?

Is there a running gag about having Data use “I've”, specifically, in each episode, or some other peculiar explanation?

Answer 1

You've already accounted for the actor slipping and the crew not catching it. So this answer simply looks for ways to provide potential in-universe answers.

But using a contraction in the next sentence after saying that he cannot do that?

Pedantically, Data did not state that he cannot (i.e. will never be able to) do that. He said that he has never mastered it. That means he does not exclude the possibility of learning it now or in the future - he only expresses that in the past (= up until now) he has not managed to learn it.

As long as you don't find proof of Data using contractions before the dialog around 24:00, then it's not a contradiction.

Together with Guinan, Data was one of the first to point out and observe Lal's contraction. This means he already knows what a contraction is, he just never used them. Seeing Lal use them may have given him the understanding he needed on how to use contraction in normal speech patterns, and adapted it accordingly.

In short words: android monkey see, android monkey do. During the runtime of TNG, we see many cases of Data mimicking or emulating human behaviors he does not yet intuitively understand (generally to comic effect). He could be doing the same with the contractions.

There are numerous mentions of how Data processes information significantly faster than the flow of a normal human conversation.
Similar to how a software developer can sometimes observe an error and make a pretty good guess at the source of the bug that causes it before looking at the code (as a developer, I can attest to that), Data could similarly process this observation on Lal using contractions, theorize about how Lal was able to quickly (since "birth") figure out how to use them, and learn from it himself.

If Data processes data usually fast, it's not impossible that to us slow-brained humans Data can change inbetween two sentences.

Especially since Data presumably knew Lal's brain inside out before he switched her on, and since Lal is not that old (since being switched on) yet, it stands to reason that the "contraction epiphany" is not far removed from Lal's initial state of mind - making it possible for Data to bridge this gap very quickly when observing Lal already doing it. He knows the start (Lal's brain at birth), the knows the end (using contractions as shown by Lal), so might be able to connect those dots more easily now that he's seen another android doing it.

Note also that you've only caught him using "I've", the exact contraction Lal used. I can use this to further suggest that Data may not have fully integrated contractions into his speech pattern yet, but has managed to integrate the one he explicitly observed Lal using.

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Given that this is not explicitly addressed that Data could've learned from Lal, it's likely not what the showrunners intended. But based on the information provided in the question here, it's a plausible explanation nonetheless.

Answer 2

In my opinion most episodes of a long and episodic television program should happen in alternate universes of their own separate from the alternate universes of every other other episode. With exceptions for episodes which are sequels and prequels to other episodes and thus happen in the same alternate universe.

Thus some episodes of TNG might happen in alternate universes where Data has not yet learned how to use contractions, maybe never will, and other episodes of TNG might happen in alternate universes where Data has already learned how to use contractions.

So this theory could explain why Data uses contractions in some episodes, and in others does not.

In episodes where Data uses contractions and nobody comments on that, Data might have learned do how to use contractions sufficiently long before the episode that everyone is used to it and doesn't comment on it anymore. In episodes where Data uses contractions and people comment on it, Data might have learned to use contractions a short time before the episode began or even during the episode, and so people are surprised by it and comment on it.

So the alternate universe theory should solve most problems of Data being able or unable to use contractions in speech.

What about the scene in "The Offspring" where:

Data: She can use contractions. I cannot.

Admiral Haftel: An aberration? What have you done about this?

Data: I've maintained records on positronic matrix activity, behavioral norms and all verbal patterns. I've seen no other evidence of aberration.

One possibility is that Data learns how to use contractions in speech during the short interval of a few seconds while Admiral Haftel is speaking.

Another possibility is that the creators of "The Offspring" assembled the episode from scenes happening in several different alternate universes.

Data's line:

She can use contractions. I cannot.

Would then come from a different alternate universe from his line:

I've maintained records on positronic matrix activity, behavioral norms and all verbal patterns. I've seen no other evidence of aberration.

Since data uses a contraction twice in this speech, and so obviously can. Presumably in the alternate universe this speech comes from Data would be talking about some other sign of aberration in Lal.