Hi, I’m a professional musician who is obsessed with Project Hail Mary.
Let’s talk about the harmonics of the Eridian Language
First: canon facts. We know that Grace is able to interpret Eridian language using the twelve tone equal temperament tuning that is most often used in modern western musical instruments. I’m sure there are some tones which he approximates from subharmonics or other harmonic systems, but I’ll start from here.
We also know that Eridians make sound by passing air through vents in their carapaces. They can make chords, so I assume there are anywhere between 5 and 12 carapace slots (this depends on if they can manipulate the length their carapace vents, which can change pitch and octave. think: are vents more similar to trombones and human vocal chords or a pipe organ?).
With these two facts in mind, I assume that more simple Eridian words are of simpler chord structure. Think of words that babies first learn, such as whatever bable is used to indicate a parent, words like “food,” “love,” “no,” “yes,” and other daily needs.
For Eridians, these words would most likely sound in unisons, octaves, or fifths, because of PHYSICS!! When something vibrates, if you cut it in half: that’s an octave. Cut that in half again: that’s a fifth. Building in more complex would start to include major thirds and sixths (resulting in major and minor chords), and fourths, eventually expanding to major and minor sevenths, sixths, and seconds. More complex than that would be tritones, and intervals displaced more than an octave.
The most complex words (scientific words) would be large cluster and flavor chords (think like in jazz where you could see a F°11).
Keys would be interesting as well, assuming that the size of each carapace determines their “home base” key (think: F vs. C Trumpets). Would words be tonally reliant (the exact pitch said can change the meaning of a word) or is it more based on intervallic relation (the distance between notes, exact notes don’t change the meaning).
And of course, words can have syllables, and multiple pitches to them. The rhythm of speech determines just as much as the pitch. Again: more simple rhythms for simpler words, complex rhythms for complex words.
This is why in the movie, Grace’s name (a direct translation of a real word which means peace or calm) is one short unison syllable - a common and old word.
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