I love the idea of time capsules and language, so it's understandable I'd be interested in how people from the past intend to communicate with people (or whatevers) in the future. How might they be able to tell what items in a time capsule even are, or decipher the contrivances intended to make that task easier? Here's a graphical attempt by the Smithsonian to describe the sounds and structure of 1938 English. I like the mouth map, but the other graphics aren't exactly transparent.
Now this is going to be fun. If you don't think so, you may exit forthwith.
I'm going to play "(far far) future guy," and come at these graphics, not using the knowledge I have of how things are today.. or in 1938. I'll be a normal human of a completely new era, but as expected, without knowledge of English, or even any current conventions. We'll see if "future guy" can figure out what they mean.
Graphic 1) Mouth map
(Future guy communicates efficiently through brain-linking technology. Speech apart from singing is pretty much foreign to him.)
Initially thought the symbols were designations for parts of the oral cavity, but then remembered that the primary means of communication was verbal, as well as written. Symbols probably indicate the parts of the mouth used in producing a variety of sounds. How they might interact, if at all, is a mystery. Perhaps a separate device is applied to the interior of the mouth at each point in order to produce distinctly meaningful sounds.
Graphic 2) Stickmen
The recurrence of the symbol combination /ai/ most likely means:
person,being; action,acting; position, posing, or form.
Figure a) is in a lying position.
Figure b) is sitting.
Figure c) is standing.
This is easy!
Figure d) is slouching.
Figure e) is jumping off, or stumbling forward.
Figure f) is marching with exaggerated limb positions.
What's that linear object?
Figure g) is riding or squatting.
Figure h) is not on knees, therefore probably not crawling. I'll go with searching for something. Perhaps even getting in a position to execute the maneuver in Figure i).
Figure i) is going up an incline.
Figure j) is going down an incline, or sliding.
Graphic 3) Concentric circles.
The central symbol groups indicating the superset concept seem to be in two related languages, with the same meaning. Probably indicative of the over-arching concept depicted by each graphic.
Three related concepts are indicated. from top to bottom:
a) outer, b) inner, c) center
or perhaps, wave formants
a) subsequent b) initial formant c) origin
May also be a crude representation of atomic structure, as their limited knowledge would allow.
Graphic 4) Very enigmatic.
I have no clue what this object is. It's obviously referring to the points of intricacy along the line segment. The center item seems to be the odd one out, as the other two are similar in structure.
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Consultation and pattern matching suggest a representation of the planetary horizon, with structures upon it, and not a particular object or tool.
The blackened portions may represent a particle emission, which is indicated by the broken lines above and extending to the left. Smoke or steam- Common in occurrence for the time period.
With scale and perspective taken into account, the other points of structure seem then to be centers of physical interaction; buildings, which were then organized into a pattern; cities. Most importantly, they are clustered *away* from the central structure.
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Consultation and pattern matching suggest the central structure is a fabrication point; factory, as they were often depicted with such particle emitters.
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Initial conclusion:
The graphic is somehow indicating the relationship between the factory being set apart from the cities, and how the particle emission tends toward one city over the other, probably dependent on wind and weather. Although not an issue worth mentioning now, the concept may have played an important role at the time, and therefore worthy of communicating.
Depending on the level of metaphor, the symbols could indicate the designations for certain cities and a factory, or may stand for general concepts, such as:
a) receiver b) origin c) that which does not receive
a) downwind b) origin c) upwind
a) object b) agent c) alternate
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Further consultation and research indicates initial conclusion most likely to be erroneous. The center structure is an ocean-going vessel, and the cities are points between which the vessel is travelling. This leads to the symbols most probably indicating:
a) origin b) means(of travel) c) destination,
or with a difference in mode,
a) from b) by c) to/toward
Graphic 5) A common gestural greeting.
Most probably represents a form of gestural ritual, performed at initial contact; a greeting.
The function of the lower body coverings is not apparent, but note that they are alike.
The head coverings, or perhaps hair, is different. The individuals are otherwise alike. I take this to mean that the greeting represented is for people who are common to each other in most ways, but differ in a few. This would indicate that the greeting may be repeated, or habitual, as people generally grouped together according to common characteristics, in that time.
The disembodied arm may indicate a variant arm position, or perhaps one following or preceding the other gestural combinations.
The symbol arrangements here seem to indicate that the gestural positions for each hand have special designations. It's unclear what the set/subset relationship for the reoccurrence of the 'ai' combination is, but this graphic would seem to support its translation as 'position'.
There are two superset concepts depicted in this graphic. Most probably the symbols indicating the group of gestures performed by each person, as they seem to be two different but related sets.
Graphic 6) binary relationship of light reflection.
Figures are arranged in three sets of two. The first two represent people. It's unclear whether they are all to represent specific people/objects, or concepts. Maybe it's a mix of both. They definitely form couplings; pairs that go together, or have a common relationship with one another.
Following the pattern 'a is to b as c is to d' renders a possible common property for indicating light reflection.
A head with less hair on top reflects more light than one with more hair on top, for the light-skinned persons depicted. The beard on the one person, by contrast, may signify the emphasis on head hair, rather than facial hair.
The second pair shows the concept of 'less' and 'more', in the same a/b pattern.
The light rectangle would reflect more than the dark one.
The importance in communicating this concept may be to stress that for each object/person classification, different groups of symbols are used to convey the same concept. It has been fairly well substantiated that communication of this period often employed multiple symbol combinations for the same concept. The superset concept is most likely indicated by the group of symbols showing representations in the two related languages, and apparently applicable to all figures represented.
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And thus, future guy pretty much fails at translation. At least he didn't try to link everything to concepts of worship, religion, and ancient gods.
