Exploring Extraterrestrial Language

PsychologyToday ^ | Natalie Schilling

[BenLurkin]

It may seem surprising that researchers could study a phenomenon for which we don’t yet have any data—after all, there are no verified accounts of conversations with aliens. But there are good reasons to consider what alien languages might look like.

For one... human languages have far more in common than we might think. A universal grammar underlies what turn out to be mostly surface differences.

[A]ll languages use a finite number of sounds (or gestures in the case of signed languages) and phrase types (like noun phrases and verb phrases) to build a theoretically limitless number of unique communications, from text messages to philosophical treatises.

Humans are also able to communicate not only about the physical world but about things beyond our immediate senses, such as the past, the future, and imagined alien worlds.

And human languages are passed down from parent to child. They’re cultural inventions, not instinctive behaviors.

...

Real-life scientists seeking communication with extraterrestrials, like those working with METI, the international research effort for Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence, know that interpreting alien languages is likely to be a far more complicated matter than science fiction would have us believe.

Some speculate that alien languages might be so different from any of our own that we might not even recognize them as language when we see them, let alone be able to understand or answer them. Beings whose brains and bodies are vastly different from our own will probably structure language quite differently and convey it via different channels, perhaps magnetic fields, odors, or even telepathy.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: astronomy; epigraphyandlanguage; science; seti; xplanets

[Mr. K]

Now do CHUCK!

[kosciusko51]

Reminds me of the movie “Arrival”.

[lee martell]

I might get Zotted!
Lol.

[MikelTackNailer]

"Chants of Sennaar is a 2023 adventure video game developed by Rundisc and published by Focus Entertainment. The gameplay mostly involves solving puzzles and minigames which generally require decoding and understanding the fictional languages of the tower. The plot is inspired by the Tower of Babel myth, and the player translates between various different tribes that do not understand each other."

I've been playing this a bit and it reminded me how all languages are tools for conveying concepts universal to everyone. Once you arrive at a shared "Aha!" moment further understanding usually follows if motivated.

The recent movie "Arrival" deals with the very premise this article is about. It had a more positive outlook than I do considering how technologically advanced species would regard us.

[jerod]

We've been living with cats and dogs for tens of thousands of years... When they can identify what language they're speaking, then maybe, just maybe... They'll be able to figure out what some other alien species is saying to us... Good luck with that.

[algore]

I like how we think we could decode an alien language.

We cannot even translate languages from other species on earth.

on the other hand many other species on earth have learned a human language.

[algore]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koko_(gorilla)

[smokingfrog]

[SaveFerris]

That movie was fun

Even though it was “Global Warming by Aliens”

👽👽👽 🥵🥵🥵

📡📡📡

[Big Red Badger]

My Ex-Wife Definitely spoke
A bizarre language till she ran off with My best friend....
But I’m Not Bitter.

[PLMerite]

[The Sons of Liberty]

Exploring Extraterrestrial Language

I foresee ultra-lib colleges offering degrees in this, and graduates complaining that they can't find jobs therefore expecting Uncle Sam to pay their student loans.

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

🙂😊😁😀😃😆😅😂🤣

[chickenlips]

And who is paying for them to study extraterrestrial language?

[fishtank]

Read this novel by H Beam Piper:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnilingual

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19445/19445-h/19445-h.htm

[BenLurkin]

Thank you.