This is a fictional story written by Ted Chiang. The story navigates the life of Louise Banks. She is a linguist working for the government. As alien spaceships land on Earth, Louise explores their way of communication and tries to break that barrier. Throughout the narration, Louise reminisces the past and future with her unborn daughter and the aliens.
The aliens are called Heptapods which have 7 limbs and a symmetrical appearance. Their skin is dull-grey and smooth. Through much time working with the Heptapods, Louise discovers their language is drastically different from ours. Their spoken and written form of language follow different grammar rules. Heptapods experience their reality differently from humans as they bounce between the past and present. This is significant to their language because their mode of communication is not linear. Their language is written like a circular sound wave; it’s semasiographic and logographic.
In the end, the Heptapods leave Earth without explanation. This leaves Louise with a different life approach. She perceives the past and present simultaneously as that’s how her brain had to function to understand their language.
