Alien language
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| - | [[Image:Blemmyes (legendary creatures).jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Blemmyes (legendary creatures)|Blemmyes]] from [[Hartmann Schedel]]'s ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' ([[1493]])]] | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | :''[[-oid]]'' | + | '''Exolinguistics''' (also called '''xenolinguistics''' and '''astrolinguistics'''), is the hypothetical study of the '''language of [[extraterrestrial life|alien]] species'''. The nature and form of such languages remains purely speculative because so far no [[search for extraterrestrial intelligence]] projects have detected signs of intelligent life beyond Earth. The possibility of future contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life has made the question of the structure and form of potential alien language a topic of scientific and philosophical discussion. |
| - | The term "'''humanoid'''" refers to any being whose body structure resembles that of a [[human]]. In this sense, the term indeed describes [[primate]]s, as well as [[mythological creature]]s and artificial organisms ([[robot]]s), especially in the context of [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy fiction]]. An ''[[android]]'' or ''[[gynoid]]'' is a humanoid robot designed to look like a specific gender, although the words are, in principle, synonymous. | + | |
| - | Usually, a fictional humanoid species has the same basic body outline as a human, being bipedal with hands which include fingers and opposable thumbs, but differs in details such as number of digits, coloring, ear form, presence of hair, average height and weight, size of nose, form of skin, "extras" such as horns, plates, claws, tails or multiple appendages, limb structure (such as having [[digitigrade]] legs) and taxonomic lineage (being descended from [[reptile]]s, [[fish]], [[rodent]]s, [[marsupial]]s, or a [[phylum (biology)|phylum]] not evolved on Earth, perhaps, instead of [[primates]]). [[Reptilian humanoid]]s are a common concept. | + | In addition to creating academic debate, the potential nature of an alien language has also been tackled by science-fiction writers. Some have created [[fictional languages]] for their characters to use; others have circumvented the problem by proposing translation devices like the [[universal translator]], or by creating [[universal language]]s that all involved species can speak. |
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| - | Most of the [[Extraterrestrial life in popular culture|aliens]] in [[television]] and [[science fiction film|movies]] are humanoid, since it is easier for a [[fictional character]] to be a disguised human [[actor]]. However, there are various methods for presenting non-humanoid characters, for example [[computer graphics]], creative [[costume|costuming]], and [[puppetry]], as seen in shows like [[Farscape]] and the new series of [[Doctor Who]]. Many aliens and robots often call humans humanoids, although this probably has more to do with [[Alien language|translating alien language]]s, as the word ''human'' would appear to be limited to Earth's population only. | + | |
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| - | Some people find it unlikely to have a universe populated by unrelated creatures that all look human, while others (including some biologists) believe that a species would naturally drift towards bipedalism when achieving sapience as we know it. | + | |
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | *[[Anthropomorphism]] | + | *[[Alien language in science fiction]] |
| - | *[[Hominid (term)]] | + | * [[Asemic writing]] |
| - | *[[Human disguise]] | + | * [[aUI (artificial language)]] |
| - | *[[Panspermia]] | + | * [[Darmok]] |
| - | *[[Race (fantasy)]] | + | * [[Glossolalia]] |
| - | *[[Robotics]] | + | * [[Hélène Smith]] |
| + | * [[Klingon language]] (Star Trek universe) | ||
| + | * [[Lincos (artificial language)]] | ||
| + | * [[Martian language]] (Chinese) | ||
| + | * [[Na'vi language]] (''Avatar'' universe) | ||
| + | * [[Search for extraterrestrial intelligence]] | ||
| - | ;Lists | ||
| - | *[[List of fictional humanoid species]] | ||
| - | **[[List of piscine and amphibian humanoids]] | ||
| - | **[[List of reptilian humanoids]] | ||
| - | **[[List of avian humanoids]] | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
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Exolinguistics (also called xenolinguistics and astrolinguistics), is the hypothetical study of the language of alien species. The nature and form of such languages remains purely speculative because so far no search for extraterrestrial intelligence projects have detected signs of intelligent life beyond Earth. The possibility of future contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life has made the question of the structure and form of potential alien language a topic of scientific and philosophical discussion.
In addition to creating academic debate, the potential nature of an alien language has also been tackled by science-fiction writers. Some have created fictional languages for their characters to use; others have circumvented the problem by proposing translation devices like the universal translator, or by creating universal languages that all involved species can speak.
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See also
- Alien language in science fiction
- Asemic writing
- aUI (artificial language)
- Darmok
- Glossolalia
- Hélène Smith
- Klingon language (Star Trek universe)
- Lincos (artificial language)
- Martian language (Chinese)
- Na'vi language (Avatar universe)
- Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Alien language" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
