xkcd 1190 ("Time") and the Beanish language

In 2014 or so, I discovered the 1190th xkcd comic. Its title is "Time".
It came out in 2013. Unlike other xkcd comics, it changed multiple times
a day for multiple months after its release. All frames together make up
one big story when you look at them one after the other.

People soon began to study the comic. They called the comic the One True
Comic and the forum thread where they met the One True Thread. Now there
is a whole wiki about it:

   https://xkcd-time.fandom.com/wiki/XKCD_Time_Wiki

In the comic, the protagonists meet other people who speak a different
language. This constructed language fascinated me the most about it. The
story plays in the future, in the basin of the dried out Mediterranean
Sea. So the language is an "a posteriori" conlang.

The people of the forum thread (the "OTTers") called the language
"Beanish". Despite their efforts, much of the language is still
undeciphered. I wonder if it will take a stroke of genius similar
to what made assyriology what it is today. When I began studying
linguistics at university, I dreamed of knowing enough by the
end of my studies to translate it all. That didn't happen.

But unlike some natural languages, the Beanish language isn't lost to
us. Randall Munroe (the creator of xkcd) and the people who helped him
know the language. But to all others, it is still a secret.

You can see some results of the translation efforts here:

   https://beanishlang.wordpress.com/

Written by Daniel Kalak in 2023. Verbatim copying and distribution of
this entire article are permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any
medium, provided this notice is preserved. EOF