Soviet linguist Yuri Knorozov was instrumental in deciphering...

Mx. Kat Terban, MSc's posts Post Back to profile

Soviet linguist Yuri Knorozov was instrumental in deciphering Mayan script. His whole life he tried to be co-credited with his cat Asya but his editors always refused. In 2012, the Mexicans honored him with a monument that included his beloved cat.

#Caturday #CatsOfMastodon #Catstodon

Image of the monument. Looks like the guy, holding the cat cradled in his arms, is walking through a doorway

Like 19 October at 0:53 | Open on mastodon.online

14 comments

Soozcat

@semiotic_pirate If the aliens arrive and see this first, we might actually survive first contact.

19 October at 3:01 | Open on vmst.io

Mx. Kat Terban, MSc

@Soozcat First contact will be made with cats, not humans. Like Star Trek, where the space probe was for communication with the whales.

19 October at 16:48 | Open on mastodon.online

𝕸𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔫

@semiotic_pirate

Yuri and Asya disapprove of your shenanigans.

19 October at 10:09 | Open on dice.camp

gkrnours

@malin @semiotic_pirate I guess their editor just said no one more time

19 October at 18:58 | Open on mastodon.gamedev.place

Tom Brand

@semiotic_pirate but did they have to freeze Asya in Carbonite?

19 October at 13:50 | Open on mastodon.mit.edu

Mx. Kat Terban, MSc

@Eggfreckles Maybe they only had carbonite as an option for extended preservation. The aliens would be better dealt with if Asya could meet them in any first contact.

(Referring to a different conversation string in the comments for this post)

19 October at 16:52 | Open on mastodon.online

Jörg Knappen

@semiotic_pirate

And the cat's real name was Aspid "Cobra".

https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/q/47297/9781

19 October at 16:25 | Open on nfdi.social

Mx. Kat Terban, MSc

@jk Nice! Thank you. Ceiling cat thanks you for this wisdom.

“it wasn't deciphering the Mayan script that Knorozov credited his cat with, it was his article ‘On Questions about Signaling Classification,’ 1973, which was devoted to the transformation of the animal communication into the human communication, and written years after the main part of the deciphering the Mayan script had been done. He observed his cat Asya teaching her kitten Fat Kys to hunt mice, which gave him some clues as for the differences between animal and human communication, so the deciperment of the Mayan script and his cat Asya (endearing form of Aspid “Cobra”) are not directly connected.”

19 October at 17:02 | Open on mastodon.online

Comrade Ferret

@semiotic_pirate As a linguist who specialized in an Indigenous language and who loves their cats, Knozorov has been my hero for a long while. Didn't know about this statue but I'm so glad it exists.