Animals make sophisticated calls but only humans talk. No other creature on Earth – ape or bird – has mastered syntax: structured sentences with a subject, verb and object. Dinosaurs had over 200 million years to acquire language, but probably didn’t. Did Neanderthals talk? Today, seven billion chattering humans are the masters of the planet. But what about sentient aliens? Could language evolve differently on one of the estimated 100 million exoplanets in the Milky Way that may harbour complex life? Does speech need words? How does language shape culture? A science fiction author examines some of the myriad possibilities.
Bio: Guy Immega is a retired aerospace engineer, entrepreneur and science geek. His company, Kinetic Sciences Inc. built experimental robots for the space station, robots to clean up nuclear waste and miniature fingerprint sensors for cell phones. In 2005, he sold the company’s assets and retired. Since then, Guy has published science fiction short stories and other nonfiction essays and completed an SF novel, in which he explores the linguistic potential of an alien species. For more info, check out his website:
http://kineticwords.net.
