"Shaka, when the walls fell" Topic

I have watched "Darmok" many times and I have always been fascinated by the conversation between Picard and the Tamarian at the end of the episode.

YouTube link

There have been many attempts at translating this.. but here is my go:

Tamarian: Sinda! His face black his eyes red (sarcastic) – There he (Picard) is, all beaten and bleeding.

Picard: Tomak! The river Tomak…in winter! – Lets put a freeze on the hostility.

Tamarian: Darmok? – Our leader(Dathon)?

Picard: And Jelad. At Tenagra. – I was with him, on the battlefield below.

Picard: Darmok and Jelad on the ocean. – We sailed and fought together.

Tamarian: Socoth, his eyes open! – He sees and understands! (that we speak in allegories).

Picard: The best of Tenagra… – The monster below…

Picard: Husani, his army…. Shaka when the walls fell. – Our enemy (the monster) was too strong… Dathon fell.

Tamarian: Picard and Dathon at El Adril. – Picard and Dathon will be remembered for this incident.

Tamarian: Merab with sails unfurled! – Lets get the hell out of here!

Picard: Temba, his arms open. – What do we do next… the ball is in your court.

Tamarian: Temba, at rest – Let us go in peace

One of my favorite episodes!

Gilgamesh and Enkidu in Uruk.

Agreed that it is a classic and a very intriguing idea. The only problem I have with it is the depiction of the Tamarians as a spacefaring species. The reality of course is that a metaphorical language could not so much as build a steam engine, much less a warp drive. Imagine trying to describe the specifications for a new communication satellite using only emojis…

I've read somewhere that about 80% of human to human communication is nonverbal. Just an interesting thought. I've also heard that math is a language.

How do you possibly communicate with an alien species? The movie "Arrival" does a pretty good job of trying to answer that question.

Birth of the language:

Merab.

Temba.

Merab and Temba.

Merab and Temba sitting around a fire.

Merab and Temba sitting around a fire. Got nothing to say.

I have watched "Darmok" many times and I have always been fascinated by the conversation between Picard and the Tamarian at the end of the episode

One of the most we written TNG episodes, an alien species whose method of communicating is still alien even with the universal translator since it's a culturally contextual language. Very creative. And in watching the scene, interesting details I hadn't noticed before. When Picard says "Shaka, when the walls fell," the two aliens in the background draw ceremonial daggers, slice their hands and then touch the blood to their forehead and then take on a downcast demeanor. Nice touch.

Yes, a pretty good episode, imaginative, well thought out and I enjoyed it very much !

Great ep.

It was a very imaginative, evocative, and well executed episode.

I'm not sure that the premise of a purely metaphorical language works linguistically; all of those metaphors still need the underlying grammar, syntax, and word meaning of the language to be understood.

Great episode.

I always assumed "Tomak! The river Tomak…in winter!" meant 2 separated cultures were able to meet.