80-107 Freshman Seminar: Interstellar Linguistics
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
In this seminar we bring together linguistics, the study of human language, with the study of interstellar communication, that is, the attempt to contact and communicate with intelligent life on other planets. In certain respects, the field linguist seeking to discover the meaning and organization of words and phrases in an unfamiliar language is in a similar position to the scientist attempting to design systems to communicate with alien beings. The linguist brings a wealth of experience to the problem, with a history of success in decoding languages currently spoken as well as written scripts from languages long forgotten. The interstellar communicator has as yet no evidence of success, facing the added challenge that any such communication is most likely oneway, and that the intended audience may not even exist. Still, both are dealing with arbitrary systems of signs the meaning of which cannot be inferred directly from form. The aim of this seminar, then, is to apply lessons from linguistics to the problem of devising systems for interstellar communication, while at the same time applying lessons learned from that exercise to issues in communication between humans using natural language. Students will examine past and recent attempts to design interstellar language and they will look at case studies in which difficult or dead languages have been decoded. They will then try their hand at devising solutions to communication problems, between worlds and here on earth.
Prerequisites: none listed
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