Star Trek: The Next Generation - "Darmok": Explanation of Tamarian Language Video

Watch this short clip from the hit TV show Star Trek: Next Generation. It's from an episode called "Darmok", in which the crew of the Enterprise encounters an alien race, the Tamarians. Then choose the most appropriate answer for each of the following questions. But first, here's the set-up: The ship's universal translator translates the aliens' speech into English, but the two races still cannot communicate. That failure to make meaning with one another may lead to war.

. When the female officer in the purple shirt says, "It's how they communicate; it's how they think," she is referencing ___________.

. The male officer in the red shirt responds, "If we know how they think, shouldn't we be able to get something across to them?" He's told that impossible. You know this is so because the crew of the Enterprise and the aliens do not belong to the same ___________.

. Finally, when the officer in yellow says, "It is necessary for us to learn the narratives," he is actually saying that the two sides need to share a common __________.

. The female office in purple explains, "Without the details [of those historical events] there's no understanding," making the point that the two languages need to share ___________ meaning.

. When the officer in yellow says the situation "is analogous to understanding the grammar but none of the vocabulary" he is actually talking about __________.

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