Re: OT<?>: Linguist Heros was Re: No pronoun, no article

J. K. Hoffman sikyal:

> I know a lot of folks don't think there have been that many "linguist
> heroes" in fiction, but I think there are more than we want to believe.
>   For instance, the hero of _The Languages of Pao_ by Jack Vance, who's
> name escapes me.    The already mentioned _Babel 17_, of course.  Most
> recently, _The Scar_ by China Mieville has a linguist heroine.  In fact,
> she even makes a snide remark about someone mistranslating the pluperfect.
> I'm away from my library, but I have a book called _Aliens and
> Linguists_ which is an examination of linguistics in science-fiction and
> fantasy.  I *know* it lists other examples, but they escape me at the
> moment.  (I think C. J. Cherryh has had some linguist heroes, as well.)
>
> When I get home again tonight, I'll scare up the book and list out more.
>   In the meantime, can anyone else think of linguist heroes?  There
> *have* to be more than the three I listed.
Hiro Protagonist of Snowcrash is not exactly a linguist, but he does do a
lot of linguistics in the course of the novel.

Ransom from CS Lewis's Space Trilogy is a linguist.

I read a book a while ago about a preternaturally gifted linguist who used
his skills to learn an alien language and deliver Earth from the alien
oppression. The title now eludes me, though.


--
Jesse S. Bangs jaspax@u.washington.edu
http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/
http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/blog

Jesus asked them, "Who do you say that I am?"

And they answered, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground
of our being, the kerygma in which we find the ultimate meaning of our
interpersonal relationship."

And Jesus said, "What?"

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