The plot (and the major twist) in Arrival hinges on the infamous Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: the strong version of this controversial (and widely disputed) theory of linguistic relativity poses that all (all!) thought and action is determined and constrained by the language an individual speaks. A neat twist on a linguistic theory (albeit, not a very popular one) Nice work here rebutting Weber’s insistence that the six-word question isn’t complicated. Explaining the complexity of languageĪ perfect Ling 101 lesson occurs when Louise shows the difficulty of asking a question like “What is your purpose on Earth” before establishing the Heptapods’ comprehension of the question’s parts: the nature of interrogative structures, the collective “you” versus specific “you,” the lexical semantics of each word in a larger phrase, etc. Points awarded for working with what she’s got. Going back over the script, however, I find this justifiable: Louise makes it clear there is no way she’ll be able to reproduce their sounds (or study their articulatory mechanisms), so she decides to try writing and visual communication. Focus on written communicationĪt first, I balked (as did my inner linguist) at the decision to communicate with the Heptapods via the written word. Weber asks why she is building a vocabulary list of grade-school words instead of starting with more specific terms. It deserved at least a nod in the screenplay, but I’ll give the writers credit for Louise’s example of a pulaski (a tool used by firefighters) when Col. I don’t recall Louise ever mentioning the term “Swadesh list” in the film, which is a shame, because the list of one hundred words, originally chosen for cultural-independence and maximal availability across languages, is a terrific tool. She begins by constructing a Swadesh list of common words and concepts-an excellent start to gathering data on the Heptapods’-or any unknown-language. Louise’s fieldwork method is entirely credible in a situation that requires a monolingual discovery procedure (where there is no shared language between fieldworker and subject). Weber that translation based solely on the audio would be impossible-whereas she already knew the Farsi necessary to translate off-site two years ago, with this unknown language she needs to be there with the aliens, interacting with them, teaching them English. Upon hearing the spoken Heptapod language for the first time, linguist Louise Banks immediately informs Col. What Arrival Gets Right The Necessity of Interaction In fact, I didn’t find nearly as much language science in the flick as I expected. Here’s what I came away with: The short answerĪrrival gets some things right, gets some things wrong, could have done some things better, and isn’t about linguistics at all. So, when Arrival, the 2016 blockbuster where “linguistics professor Louise Banks is tasked with interpreting the language of the apparent alien visitors” (IMDB) came out, my inner linguist and I poured a glass of wine and sat down, prepared to be amazed. All fine films and books, but my inner linguist sulks after watching or reading them. Most of the time, disappointment lies at the end of the hunting trip: the linguist is a translator ( The Interpreter, 2005) the main character is a hyper-polyglot ( The Informationist, 2011 ) the plot turns on the unintelligibility of languages ( Enemy Mine, 1985 Windtalkers, 2002) the filmmakers employ a clever linguisticky gimmick, like putting all the dialogue in Latin, Hebrew, and reconstructed Aramaic with subtitles ( The Passion of the Christ, 2004) the linguist could easily be replaced by an X-ist without altering the story’s substance ( Still Alice, 2014). When I see the word ‘linguist’ in a book blurb or a movie synopsis, my ears start twitching like a bloodhound on the scent. ![]() You can meet Christina and read more of her writing at Be sure to also check out her previous article in this series, Linguistics in Fiction. Christina’s short fiction has been widely published her novels (featuring a linguist, of course!) are represented by Laura Bradford. Her research covers the physical, cognitive, and social forces contributing to variation in Italian and British English, and she has held faculty positions in the US, UK, and UAE. is a theoretical linguist specializing in the phonetics and phonology of sound change. Please join the mailing list to be notified every time new content is posted. Each week, we ask an expert to tackle some aspect of fantasy writing (cultures, weapons, horses, etc.) or a scientific / technological concept pervasive in science fiction. ![]() This article on the linguistics in Arrival is part of the Science in Sci-fi, Fact in Fantasyblog series.
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