How do aliens in the story language and communication style different from the human language (oral, pictographic, phonetic, etc.)?
1. oral: make fluttering sounds and a puckered orifice at the top of its body vibrates
2. pictographic: semasiographic writing; conveys meaning without reference to speech
3. phonetic: not phonetic since there’s no direct connection between Heptapod A&B
4. script: not word-divided; a sentence is written by joining the logograms for the constituent words (by rotating and modifying them)
How does the physical structure of our body inform the way we communicate? How about the aliens?
1. humans: open and close their mouths with tongues rolling up and flattening; eye contact;
facial expression; body language
2. heptapods: a puckered orifice at the top of its body vibrates; body language (use the limbs to point)
Review:
While reading about how Louise and Gary tried different ways like pointing and making movements to help themselves better understood by the heptapods and get feedback, I wondered what would it be like when two people, speaking two different languages and have no clue about one other’s language, want to communicate (orally and literally). Suppose they are American and Chinese, will the American think that one Chinese character is made up of several letters, and the Chinese think that several English letters are segments of one Chinese character? Then just as Louise did in the story, only when they truly grasp the pattern of one another’s language and understand the philosophy behind will they be able to learn.
Apart from that, it is enlightening to know that learning the Heptapod language changed Louise’s thought process. “Instead of racing forward, my mind hung balanced on the symmetry underlying the semagrams,” said she. Through communicating with another species and exposing herself to a brand-new language environment, Louise got another worldview that helped her see the world from a new perspective. It is the charm of communication with people (or even aliens) from different backgrounds.