What is the original language of "Moby-Dick"?

The original language of “Moby-Dick” is English. Herman Melville wrote the novel in English in the United States, drawing on American maritime speech, Shakespearean drama, the Bible, scientific writing, and earlier works about whaling.

The novel was first published in London in 1851 as The Whale and then in New York later that year as Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. The British and American editions were both English-language texts, although they differed in wording, punctuation, censorship, and the inclusion of the epilogue.

Readers sometimes confuse the language of the original with the many translations that followed. “Moby-Dick” is also the conventional hyphenated title of the novel, while the whale’s name generally appears in the text as “Moby Dick,” without the hyphen. The book’s language is English even though its story crosses oceans and includes characters from many cultures.