Like their ship or their bodies, their written language has no forward or backward direction. Linguists call this "nonlinear orthography," which raises the question, "Is this how they think?"
Read more Ian Donnelly QuotesFrom: Arrival
We don't know if they understand the difference between a weapon and a tool.
So, Hannah... This is where your story begins. The day they departed. Despite knowing the journey... and where it leads... I embrace it. And I welcome every moment of it.
Louise Banks: The weapon is their language. They gave it all to us. Do you understand what that means?Colonel Weber: So we can learn heptapod. If we survive.Louise Banks: If you learn it, when you really learn it, you begin to perceive time the way that they do. So you can see what's to come. But time, it isn't the same for them. It's non-linear.