Abstract
We discuss a method of constructing a language which is based on the rudiments of logic, mathematics and the physical sciences. We believe that our construction gives some insight into the nature of language acquisition and the role that experience plays in this process, and we hope that this work will have some impact on the next generation of computer languages – languages which, we think, should incorporate some science in their basic structure, thereby enabling researchers to present problems to the computer at a higher level than is now possible. Our approach is to consider, as a thought experiment, how two alien races that are in contact by radio might go about developing a language which is suitable for mutual communication. We argue that, in such a situation, the physical universe itself provides a kind of Rosetta stone on which a language can be built.
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