Decipher SciFi

Arrival Part 2: debunking Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, alien phonology, and conlang writing w/ Nick Farmer


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Nick Farmer

He’s a linguist! And a conlanger, technically.

His website: Nick Farmer Linguist

His Twitter: @nfarmerlinguist

Sapir-Whorf

AKA linguistic relativity, and why it is a very very wrong thing. A warm and fuzzy idea that turns out, after facing science, not to reflect reality well. Nick really really wants to set the record straight on this matter.

Spoken Alien Language

Considering the possibilities. Different modalities. Language need not be sound-based! ASL. Frequencies of sound.

Written Language

Heptapod B! Bending over backwards to figure out a way for alien languages to break the linearity of time.

Alien Writing System

The complexity of deciphering alien writing systems. Extradimensionality. Stephen Wolfram wrote the software to create the logograms. Human language analogies. Mapping ideas and words and concepts is REALLY complicated.

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