The story is about a linguist who is tasked with communicating with extraterrestrial beings who have landed on Earth, and how her experiences with them affect her understanding of time and the nature of human consciousness. I love the alien setting, it’s amazing to imagine a completely non-existent species as the story progresses through the interesting dialogue.
How do aliens in the story’s language and communication style different from the human language (oral, pictographic, phonetic, etc.)?
The aliens’ language is vastly different from human language. It is written in a non-linear, circular script that does not follow traditional grammatical rules, and each “word” is a complete sentence that conveys both its meaning and its relationship to all other words in the sentence. The language is non-phonetic and non-pictographic, and its writing system is unlike anything seen in human languages. Basically, there are two types.
Oral Language — Heptapod A
The aliens’ sound is compared to a wet dog shaking its fur, which suggests that its appearance is likely different from humans. Humans struggle to differentiate this sound, and the aliens cannot comprehend our attempts to mimic it. This may indicate that the aliens don’t perceive sound in the same way as humans, but instead rely on vibrations, similar to whales or other animals. However, their spoken language resembles humans in that it is composed of fragmented “words.”
Written Language — Heptapod B
The written language is separate from the spoken language, forming a distinct language system. This is achieved by rotating and modifying the logograms. The logograms are not arranged in rows, spirals, or linear fashion, but are rather joined together to create a single conglomerate sentence. The direction in which the ideograms are read is determined by the context in which they appear, and the same ideogram can have different meanings depending on its position within the sentence.
I think the alien language is a highly complex and abstract system that is not easily translatable into human language, made me think of the combinations of drawing and oracle script for divination.
How does the physical structure of our body inform the way we communicate? How about the aliens?
The physical structure of our body informs the way we communicate in many ways. And we use all those movements together with oral language to communicate with each other. Our bodies will move with our words. Our hands and facial expressions also play a role in human communication. We use hand gestures and facial expressions to convey meaning and emotions, and these nonverbal cues can often complement or even contradict the words we use. Humans also rely on contextual and cultural cues to understand each other’s communication. Even the same action or gesture can mean differently in different circumstances and situations.
In contrast, the aliens do not use body language to communicate as they are able to transmit entire concepts and ideas telepathically. However, they have a physical structure that is different from that of humans, which is described as having many long, jointed limbs and a squid-like appearance. The author writes, “It looked like a barrel suspended at the intersection of seven limbs. It was radially symmetric, and any of its limbs could serve as an arm or a leg.” But it’s hard to imagine their body structure, it looks like an octopus with one less limb. The way they move and manipulate their limbs could be considered a form of body language, but in the story, it is not used as a means of communication. Their movements are kind of confusing since we cannot understand their accurate directions. Instead, their communication is based entirely on their advanced telepathic abilities and non-linear, holistic writing system.