Stories tagged “linguistics”
-
A Philippic: On Orthographic Conventions for Dental Fricatives
English is quite an illogical language, but among all its idiosyncrasies, one stands out among all; namely, a contrast between voicing exists for dental fricatives: One is voiced and one is unvoiced. Which one is used depends upon context and particula...
-
What I Expect
I expect To remain Invested in The interests Of these tiny Insect tests If linguists List me The best Pest-peeve Of poetry I’d say thanks And accept it Humbly (That’s a back handed compliment, btw, in case you think my melon’s swell...
-
Multi-Dimensional Language
This is how I began: “Of the various species the human race has encountered throughout the galaxy, all have viewed language as a single, uni-dimensional entity.” As I said this, the overseer displayed a black, horizontal line on a field of ...
-
Lost in Translation
“What does this mean Carto?” someone yelled over the cacophony of sound that filled the hall. I smiled slightly. I had been hoping someone asked that question, a speech already prepared in my mind. “We were brought here for a reason t...
-
Multi-Dimensional Species
Harrigan spoke up. “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this, carto. How does a species develop the ability to communicate three-dimensionally?” I nodded. “That, sir, is exactly the crux of the issue.” I pulled ...
-
Building Blocks
“What we have here, I believe, is a first-contact scenario,” I said. “An entirely new species, heretofore unknown to us or to any other race in the galaxy, occupying a space utterly alien and incomprehensible to our three-dimensional ...
-
Chosen
It was Furlough who posed the next question. “Why now, carto? Why us? There are plenty of other species in the galaxy, several more advanced than we are. Why choose our race and, more specifically, our crew?” This was one question I didn...
-
Choice
Later, on the bridge, we sat in silence, only the light of our individual displays providing illumination. We went about our work, waiting for the crew’s votes to roll in. A question niggled at my brain. I swung my chair around, presenting it to ...
-
Trust - and Faith
As it turned out, there was no contest in the results. The crew had voted unanimously to follow this to the end. We’d been through hell and back over the last few weeks, and we were more tightly bonded than any crew had ever been. The vote demons...