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Astrolinguistics

Design of a Linguistic System for Interstellar Communication Based on Logic

  • Book
  • © 2013

Overview

Authors:
  1. Alexander Ollongren

    1. Advanced Computer Science, Leiden Institute, Leiden, Netherlands

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  • Presents an in-depth, partly philosophical study of a theoretical but growing area of linguistics

  • Uses applied logic and universal aspects of linguistics to explain concepts and theories

  • Describes in a concise and easy to interpret manner aspects of human behavior as relates to communicating with other-world intelligences

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Table of contents (24 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. Calculus of Constructions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-2
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    2. Types and Declarations

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 3-7

    3. Functions and Induction

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 9-21

    4. Hypotheses

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 23-28

    5. Higher Orders and Inductive Structures

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 29-38

  3. Facts

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 39-40
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    2. Simple Facts

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 41-46

    3. Compounds

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 47-52

    4. Aristotelian Theatre

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 53-63

    5. Wittgenstein’s Theatre

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 65-74

  4. Annotations in LINCOS

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 75-75
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    2. Logic Contents of Texts

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 77-84

    3. An Astrolinguistic Experiment

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 85-91

    4. Aspects of Truth

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 93-100

    5. Human Altruism

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 101-108

  5. Interpretation of LINCOS

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 109-110
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    2. Self-interpretation

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 111-116

    3. Pictorial Representations

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 117-121

    4. Representation of Music

      • Alexander Ollongren
      Pages 123-130
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Keywords

About this book

In linguistics, one of the main areas of modern research involves the capabilities and possibilities of there being a "lingua cosmica," a LINCOS, a universal language that could be used to communicate with non-human intelligences. This book touches on the area of the development and use of a "lingua universalis" for interstellar communication, but it also presents concepts that cover a broad area of linguistics. Chomsky's paradigm on universal properties of natural languages, for a long time a leading general theory of natural languages, includes the strong assumption that humans are born with some kind of universals stored in their brains. Are there universals of this kind of language used by intelligent beings and societies elsewhere in the universe? We do not know whether such languages exist. It seems to be impossible to determine, simply because the universe is too large for an exhaustive search. Even verification will be hard to obtain, without quite a bit of luck. This book uses astrolinguistic principles in message construction and is helpful in clarifying and giving perspective to discussions on existential questions such as these.

Reviews

“If you want to know everything about the LINCOS language ‘Astrolinguistics’ is the right book for you. … This book therefore is a modern overview of LINCOS given by an authoritative source. First it describes the syntax of the language, then it shows how it can be used to describe different aspects of ordinary communication like, e.g. music, scientific language, or language courses.” (Gabriella Bernardi, Astrocom et al., astrocometal.blogspot.de, January, 2017)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Advanced Computer Science, Leiden Institute, Leiden, Netherlands

    Alexander Ollongren

About the author

Alexander Ollongren began his career as a mathematical astronomer at the Dept. of Astronomy at Leiden University in the Netherlands, where he obtained his PhD. He then left the university and worked almost two years in Celestial Mechanics at Yale University in the US. Ollongren returned to Holland and became director of the newly established computer center of Leiden University. He spent a sabbatical leave as a visiting scientist at the IBM Laboratory in Vienna and was later appointed full professor of theoretical computer science at the Dept. of Computer Science of Leiden University. He was a guest professor in the same science for about a year at Linkoping University in Sweden. After retirement he became a member of the Permanent Study Group Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (PSGSETI) of the International Astronautical Academy. He has written books and articles on the semantics of programming languages.

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