Suggestions for possible alien languages.

a reply to: Peacetime

The fact that language can be learned is important I think.

i would imagine if aliens were coming here to interact with us then it would be on them to learn
one of the more common languages in use today such as Mandarin, English, a variant of Spanish or Russian.

they would have been monitoring us for some time and would have plenty of time to develop
a translation to their own.

using earth as a template for how life develops and evolves throughout this galaxy at least
it follows that the higher life forms would have one or several spoken languages as well as written or software forms
just as we have ok i suppose it "may" be possible they may have telepathic communication but we could probably
not respond even if we could "hear" them.
So i think if/when they choose to make contact its a fair bet they will be technologically ahead of us to some degree
so they will probably have a means of communicating with us either verbally or visually available to them.
to draw on the star trek world a "universal translator" of sorts.

originally posted by: ShayneJUK
i would imagine if aliens were coming here to interact with us then it would be on them to learn
one of the more common languages in use today such as Mandarin, English, a variant of Spanish or Russian.

they would have been monitoring us for some time and would have plenty of time to develop
a translation to their own.

using earth as a template for how life develops and evolves throughout this galaxy at least
it follows that the higher life forms would have one or several spoken languages as well as written or software forms
just as we have ok i suppose it "may" be possible they may have telepathic communication but we could probably
not respond even if we could "hear" them.
So i think if/when they choose to make contact its a fair bet they will be technologically ahead of us to some degree
so they will probably have a means of communicating with us either verbally or visually available to them.
to draw on the star trek world a "universal translator" of sorts.

I think the invention of the internet is absolutely the sort of thing an advanced civilisation might do to create the forum within which communication could be established, what do you think?

Anyway, my apologies for taking the thread off into woo woo land OP.
My best wishes on your quest.

a reply to: liteonit6969

I don't know but telephathy seems to be the standard. As far as vocal, maybe the frequency you suggested, or something that may sound like a bunch or clicking almost like a Morse code. Very interesting post, nice job. Something to think about.

I think it would be music & math. Music is any sound doesn't matter the tone.
Each tone has a vibration & the vibration also equals numbers & also colors
can be related to vibrations as well & it ALL relates to the Universe.
Sorry but this goes WAY too deep for me to explain. If I can find my old studies
I will post, however I am sure some brilliant person here can embellish on that
much better than meself.

Cheers
Ektar

a reply to: Ektar

Music is interesting. You said the music wouldn't matter, but would you have any guesses on the instrument types. Great suggestion.

a reply to: liteonit6969
Are you assuming that the aliens have not mastered automatic translation of any language, despite their advanced technology? Why would they waste time learning an Earth language, when they would have no use for it? Just turn the translator on, and let it do its job.

a reply to: Reallyfolks

No I did NOT say that music did not matter. I said music is any
sound (& was left out) & the sound of the tone does not matter.

Therefore what I wrote means a tone & a vibration is just that...
Does not have anything to do with any certain instrument or voice...
A vibration is a percussive sound & it can come from any instrument,
voice, color anything with a vibe...just like everything here, space,
the whole universe.

I have the understanding & am pro musician...but I am not the one to explain
it all in easy terms...I would need to relocate things from past scholars... &
I am sorry I do not have the time ATM....I just wanted to give people another
option of viewing a bigger picture...

personal experience with aliens before this knowledge was telepathic.

Hope that helps you...

Cheers
Ektar

One thing all aliens have in common is that they speak English, but will often use subtitles for those less worthy.

a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

Unicorns aren't real. Hmmmmmm

a reply to: StanFL

Yes I'm assuming that there is no universal communication translator.
Given that sound is just the manipulation of the flow of air at what stage would the medium of these vibrations be useless. In an environment with a reduced ability to breathe would it be possible that the body would evolve to using a different less taxing method.
Think how quickly your language would develop in this scenario where noise is viewed as a waste of resources.

originally posted by: Kandinsky
Mathematics would be the obvious introduction. A simple symbol like a + is as easy to translate as an = sign. Communicating something as simple as 1+1=2 could be responded to with 2+2=4.

Possibly, but even that isn't as clear-cut as it may seem. What if the hypothetical aliens really have no concept of objects being discrete, and tend to sense objects as only variations in a continuum? We sense something like a pencil as a distinct, singular object, but if you get down to an atomic level, the division between the pencil and the air around it starts to fuzz out.

In that case, they would have no concept of "one." If they sense things as something like areas of varying density, then adding one of these areas to another of these areas might be equivalent to them adding "one" drop of water to another "one" drop of water, which results "equals" one larger drop of water (1+1 = 1).

I don't know how they might manage to build large, intergalactic spaceships or communication devices if they thought like that, but hey, they're aliens.

a reply to: Blue Shift

Jeez Blue, you sure know how to complicate the complicated : )

If something as exotic as Kaku/Kardeshev's Type 2/3 civilisation was in our vicinity, it'd be anyone's guess how they might reach out...or why.

I tend to frame my concept of visiting aliens as being something we can conceive of. By that I mean, should we meet, they'd be able to operate on a level we could comprehend. Likewise, on some level, they'd have a history of social interactions and material needs. Whilst they may have passed that stage (post-scarcity? who knows?), they'd recognise the level in others and respond appropriately.

I imagine you're aware of how our ability to conceptualise other intelligences is always moving forward and expanding in complexity? You always strike me as such. It seems to be a growing concept that advanced intelligence will be past simple biology and may indeed be something removed from the senses we exist with. They/it or whatever else might only know emotion as something in their ancestry as an abstract concept.

Perhaps they'd bypass our expectations of a mathematical/linguistic link and seek to communicate on an emotional level? Despite that being key to our existence, it might fail as communication. Rather like the parent of a severely autistic child trying to connect and frequently failing. This would tie in with your suggestion of lacking awareness of 'I' or singular objects?

Now you've given me a headache...

originally posted by: liteonit6969
a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

Unicorns aren't real. Hmmmmmm

Vikings sold Narwal teeth at trade fairs...by passing them off as Unicorn horns.

I've tried to communicate back to the ufonauts with geoglyph and dead wood carvings as well, like: Welcome to Earth and Require Tachyons + Anti-Grav Black Holes - Stop 1976 AA Asteroid; at Calvert Cliffs, Maryland; during the 1970's

The ufonauts (when they are there), possibly constructed hydro motion art on the shoreline at Calvert Cliffs, which is also a form of communication --- Like placing a six foot long x 3"diameter nylon double looped ship tie rope, with one loop placed under a large Miocene fossil boulder on the shoreline and letting the Chesapeake Bay wave action move the other side of the looped rope.

A little further south on the shoreline, the ufonaut/ufonauts, possibly constructed a large lever hydro art piece, by placing a driftwood tree root on top of a large stone boulder --- then placing an old 10 foot long x 1" x 6" wooden ship plank that pivoted on a round tip of the driftwood at a 45 degree angle --- tied the wood plank to the tree root with parachute cord and nylon rope --- angled the plank so that wave action would move the angled board. They topped it off by placing a large heavy stone boulder on top of the wooden plank.

I discovered the hydro art piece, when I was walking along the shoreline one windy day. I heard this duh-duh sound when the wave hit the shoreline. I was amazed when I looked over an found the hydro art piece was making the duh-duh sound --- that came from the swiveling large stone boulder; with about a 1 inch back and forth motion.

Cheers,

Erno

originally posted by: Kandinsky
I tend to frame my concept of visiting aliens as being something we can conceive of. By that I mean, should we meet, they'd be able to operate on a level we could comprehend. Likewise, on some level, they'd have a history of social interactions and material needs. Whilst they may have passed that stage (post-scarcity? who knows?), they'd recognise the level in others and respond appropriately.

I've always said that what most people talk about when they imagine aliens is aliens that are a lot like us, that perceive reality in roughly the same way we do. Star Trek aliens. That's because we can really only comprehend things like life and intelligence by comparing them to what we vaguely understand as life an intelligence. We can only compare them to ourselves.

We might not be even able to recognize an alien that is like a band of clay in a stream, sentient in some way that we can't comprehend. Bands of clay "live" by slowly moving along a stream bed, grinding down rocks and dirt, and adding those particles to itself. Are they alive? Not compared to us.

Anyway, we can barely get along with other human beings just because they have a slight difference in skin tone. An alien that is like a giant cockroach/cicada that communicates through smell and extremely loud siren-like wails, and who express their love by eating the loved one and absorbing their brains into their own might be a little tough for us to get along with.

So I always chuckle a little when people get all enthusiastic about flying to other planets and meeting aliens. Be careful what you wish for!

With the laser holography...the ufonauts like to use Christian/Hebrew/Muslim bible themes --- like Jonah and Whale --- Which is an image of Jonah getting spit out of the whale ---- while the whale is getting bit on the back by a T-Rex and a Pterodactyl --- Which is a religious theme that most educated Earthlings can understand.

a reply to: Blue Shift

I've always said that what most people talk about when they imagine aliens is aliens that are a lot like us, that perceive reality in roughly the same way we do. Star Trek aliens. That's because we can really only comprehend things like life and intelligence by comparing them to what we vaguely understand as life an intelligence. We can only compare them to ourselves.

I hold a number of conflicting possibilities and some of them acknowledge profoundly exotic intelligences. Those Type 2/3s would be several degrees removed from our current ability to comprehend them. At the same time, when considering an intelligence, or alien culture, that comes here to communicate with us, it's implicit that they'd also possibly be recognisably material like us and share some of our drives.

We should consider a spectrum of intelligences in light of the OP.

Some speculate about membranous life-forms that have evolved in the upper atmospheres of gaseous planets. That's fair enough, but would they ever develop technology to travel to other star systems? Others imagine floating consciousnesses and, again, with what would they construct things with?

It's reasonable to also speculate that a visiting intelligence would have technology. Such things only exist through precursor technologies. We've got aluminium nails today and they couldn't exist without thousands of years of incremental developments and all those whirlwinds of environmental pressures and societal structures. It takes a social animal to embark on the path that leads to mass production and education systems, right?

If any type of physical craft arrives on our doorstep, the engineers will have had a history that paralleled our own even if millennia separate us.

My guess would be we would communicate just like we always have, Much pointing, speaking slow and broken in our own language, but loudly, and the offering of much trinkets and wampum.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

Wampum's always good.