Speedtalk
Sign in to saveSpeedtalk is a fictional constructed language and key plot device in Robert A. Heinlein's novella Gulf (1949). Speedtalk is a logic-based language with complex syntax, minimal vocabulary, and a rich phoneme inventory (written with letters such as œ, ħ, ø, and ʉ); it would make both communication and thought more efficient and precise. A single phoneme indicates a word, so a "word" indicates a sentence. In the only example given, a "word" means "The far horizons draw no nearer."
~2 min read
Article
3 sectionsContents
- Examples of Speedtalk
- Attempts at creating Speedtalks
- References
Speedtalk is a fictional constructed language and key plot device in Robert A. Heinlein's novella Gulf (1949). Speedtalk is a logic-based language with complex syntax, minimal vocabulary, and a rich phoneme inventory (written with letters such as œ, ħ, ø, and ʉ); it would make both communication and thought more efficient and precise. A single phoneme indicates a word, so a "word" indicates a sentence. In the only example given, a "word" means "The far horizons draw no nearer."
==Examples of Speedtalk== Two untranslated conversations appear in the story: