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Sinda, his face black, his eyes red
Sep. 8th, 2021 11:34 amPrompted by being on the Darmok panel at this year's Readercon, I rewatched the Darmok episode of TNG, paying close attention to all the phrases the Tamarians use, and then just this weekend we rewatched it yet again, this time to show it to the healing angel's significant other, who had never seen it.
I wanted to see how much of the conversation between the Tamarians that flabbergasted the Enterprise crew at the beginning of the episode would seem comprehensible once you've seen the whole episode. Some things are pretty figure-out-able. The viewer can probably guess at least as quickly as Picard that "Shaka, when the walls fell" means "doesn't work/no good/failure/frustration/defeat" and that "Temba, his arms wide" means to offer something/to give something. And it's pretty easy to guess what "Kiteo, his eyes closed" and "Sokath, his eyes uncovered" mean. (Side note: from the language we hear, we might conclude the Tamarians have only one sex ... I feel compelled now to imagine all the figures referenced who aren't given a pronoun as female)
Sokath, his eyes uncovered!
( translating Tamarian )
I was thinking just as I typed this how I would love to know the story of Kiazi's children, and then I was thinking, what if we told that story the way Picard told the story of what happened on the planet? The could be very cool: a Tamarian-style origin story for the phrase, the way Picard's story is an origin story for "Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel."
Of course, in writing one, if you're using nothing but phrases like this, you've opened up an infinitely nesting opportunity for more such stories.
... I may have to try this. GET READY, AO3!
PS, if you should happen to be wanting the transcript of the Darmok episode, you can read it here.
I wanted to see how much of the conversation between the Tamarians that flabbergasted the Enterprise crew at the beginning of the episode would seem comprehensible once you've seen the whole episode. Some things are pretty figure-out-able. The viewer can probably guess at least as quickly as Picard that "Shaka, when the walls fell" means "doesn't work/no good/failure/frustration/defeat" and that "Temba, his arms wide" means to offer something/to give something. And it's pretty easy to guess what "Kiteo, his eyes closed" and "Sokath, his eyes uncovered" mean. (Side note: from the language we hear, we might conclude the Tamarians have only one sex ... I feel compelled now to imagine all the figures referenced who aren't given a pronoun as female)
Sokath, his eyes uncovered!
( translating Tamarian )
I was thinking just as I typed this how I would love to know the story of Kiazi's children, and then I was thinking, what if we told that story the way Picard told the story of what happened on the planet? The could be very cool: a Tamarian-style origin story for the phrase, the way Picard's story is an origin story for "Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel."
Of course, in writing one, if you're using nothing but phrases like this, you've opened up an infinitely nesting opportunity for more such stories.
... I may have to try this. GET READY, AO3!
PS, if you should happen to be wanting the transcript of the Darmok episode, you can read it here.
