Lincos language: Difference between revisions
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== Popular culture == |
== Popular culture == |
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In the motion picture ''[[Contact (1997 American film)|Contact]]'' (1997), [[search for extraterrestrial intelligence|SETI]] [[astronomer]]s receive a [[radio]] transmission from space that has a Lincos-like dictionary embedded in the message. |
In the motion picture ''[[Contact (1997 American film)|Contact]]'' (1997), [[search for extraterrestrial intelligence|SETI]] [[astronomer]]s receive a [[radio]] transmission from space that has a Lincos-like dictionary embedded in the message. |
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In another motion picture "[[Arrival (film)|Arrival]]", Lincos is used as a tool to understand the abstract symbols used in the [[extraterrestrial]]'s language. |
In another motion picture "[[Arrival (film)|Arrival]]", Lincos is used as a tool to understand the abstract symbols used in the [[extraterrestrial]]'s language.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2016/11/quick-how-might-the-alien-spacecraft-work/|title=Quick, How Might the Alien Spacecraft Work?—Stephen Wolfram|last=|first=|date=|website=blog.stephenwolfram.com|publisher=|access-date=2016-11-10}}</ref> |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
Revision as of 16:23, 10 November 2016
Lincos | |
---|---|
Created by | Hans Freudenthal |
Date | 1960 |
Setting and usage | search for extraterrestrial intelligence |
Purpose | Constructed language
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis ) |
Glottolog | None |
Lincos (an abbreviation of the Latin phrase lingua cosmica) is a constructed language first described in 1960 by Dr. Hans Freudenthal in his book Lincos: Design of a Language for Cosmic Intercourse, Part 1. It is a language designed to be understandable by any possible intelligent extraterrestrial life form, for use in interstellar radio transmissions. Freudenthal considered that such a language should be easily understood by beings not acquainted with any Earthling syntax or language. Lincos was designed to be capable of encapsulating "the whole bulk of our knowledge."
Concepts and range
The Lincos "
The next section of the Lincos dictionary introduces a word for second, "Sec," by playing pulses of various lengths, followed by Sec, and the number of seconds, "until the receiver may be expected to remark that the numbers... are proportional to the durations,"[1] thus teaching both that Sec is a unit of time, and exactly how long it is. He then introduces means for measuring durations, referring to moments in time, and talking about past and future events.
The third section is perhaps the most complex, and attempts to convey the concepts and language necessary to describe behavior and conversation between individuals. It uses examples to introduce actors speaking to each other, asking questions, disapproving, quoting other people, knowing and wanting things, promising, and playing. The first steps (since he has introduced sets of numbers and questions) are to introduce some new symbols (distinctive patterns of pulses), say they are NOT numbers, and transmit sequences showing two of these new symbols separated by the word "Inq," and followed by a question about an equation, then the symbols reversed, followed by the answer (example below). He expects that after many repetitions, the recipient will decide these new symbols are entities asking and answering the questions, rather than some other context for the questions.
Finally, the fourth section describes the concepts and language relating to
A second book was planned but never written that would have added four more sections to the dictionary: "Matter", "Earth", "Life" and "Behavior 2". Other researchers have since extended the language somewhat on their own. One example is
Freudenthal's book on Lincos discusses it with many technical words from linguistic and logical theory, usually without defining them, which may have reduced its general interest, though the main chapters can be understood without these technical terms: appellatives, binding, formalization, function, lexicology, logistical, ostensive, quasi-general, semantics, syntax, variables, etc.
Use
For decades, no actual transmissions were made using Lincos; it remained largely a theoretical exercise, until
Some researchers have explored the similar issues in communicating with intelligent animals such as cetaceans. Lincos messages (even if sent by pulses of sound rather than radio) are complex and need to reach the most patient, logically oriented members of the target species. A far simpler approach aimed at average members of a species can cover numbers, >, <, =, +, -, and time.
Examples
An example of Lincos from section 3 of Freudenthal's book, showing one individual asking another individual questions:
Lincos text | Meaning |
---|---|
Ha Inq Hb ?x 2x=5 | Ha says to Hb: What is the x such that 2x=5? |
Hb Inq Ha 5/2 | Hb says to Ha: 5/2. |
Ha Inq Hb Ben | Ha says to Hb: Good. |
Ha Inq Hb ?x 4x=10 | Ha says to Hb: What is the x such that 4x=10? |
Hb Inq Ha 10/4 | Hb says to Ha: 10/4. |
Ha Inq Hb Mal | Ha says to Hb: Bad. |
Hb Inq Ha 1/4 | Hb says to Ha: 1/4. |
Ha Inq Hb Mal | Ha says to Hb: Bad. |
Hb Inq Ha 5/2 | Hb says to Ha: 5/2. |
Ha Inq Hb Ben | Ha says to Hb: Good. |
Note the difference between "good" and "bad" as compared to "true" and "false"; 10/4 is a true answer to the question, so Ver ("true") would be a valid response, but since it wasn't reduced to lowest terms, it wasn't what Ha wanted and so he responded Mal ("bad") instead. The book separately teaches Ver and Fal for true and false.
Another example, showing meta-conversation:
Lincos text | Meaning |
---|---|
Ha Inq Hb ?x 4x=10 | Ha says to Hb: What is the x such that 4x=10? |
Hb Inq Hc ?y y Inq Hb ?x 4x=10 | Hb says to Hc: Who asked me for the x such that 4x=10? |
Hc Inq Hb Ha | Hc says to Hb: Ha. |
Popular culture
In the motion picture Contact (1997), SETI astronomers receive a radio transmission from space that has a Lincos-like dictionary embedded in the message. In another motion picture "Arrival", Lincos is used as a tool to understand the abstract symbols used in the extraterrestrial's language.[6]
See also
- Alien language
- SETI
References
- ^ Freudenthal, Hans (1960). Lincos, Design of a Language for Cosmic Intercourse. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
- ^ "This is the index page of Dr". alexanderollongren.nl.
- ^ Prof. Allen Tough. "Invitation to ETI: Alexander Ollongren". ieti.org.
- ^ Webb, Stephen Where Is Everybody?, Praxis Publishing Ltd, 2002, p. 260
- ^ http://www.encounter2001.com Encounter 2001, promoters of the experiment by Dutil and Dumas which encoded a message in Lincos and beamed it towards close stars.
- ^ "Quick, How Might the Alien Spacecraft Work?—Stephen Wolfram". blog.stephenwolfram.com. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
- Freudenthal, Hans (1960). Lincos: Design of a Language for Cosmic Intercourse. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
- Ollongren, Alexander (2013). Astrolinguistics. New York: Springer.