Talk:The Children of Tama

Name
The reference at the beginning of the episode lists the race as 'The children of Tama'. It's more elegant and exact than just 'Tamarians'. Should not the article name be changed to reflect this? --Ouro 21:38, 17 Feb 2005 (GMT)


 * Agreed, it seems that that is what they call themselves, and Tamarian is only a shorthand used by starfleet. Don't think we have a policy on what name to use in this kind of situations (and I can't think of any precedents), but I suggest the name the species use themselves, even though "Tamarian" is widespread in fandom. -- Capricorn 09:14, 3 October 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree that "Children of Tama" is more appropriate. -- Connor Cabal 12:19, 3 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Reading the above regarding which title this article should be at, I have to agree with the original poster that we may want to move this article to "Children of Tama"(no the) if that's what their actual name is.--31dot 21:04, December 14, 2010 (UTC)
 * Agreed, even dialogue supports that being the formal name Starfleet and the Federation use:
 * PICARD: "Captain's log, stardate 45047.2. The Enterprise is en route to the uninhabited El-Adrel system, its location is near the territory occupied by an enigmatic race known as 'The Children of Tama'."
 * DATA: "The Children of Tama were called incomprehensible by Captain Silvestri of the Shiku Maru. Other accounts were comparable."
 * RIKER: "The Children of Tama. I've heard rumours about them for years."
 * Should we put the "The" in? It is capitalized and within the quotation marks in the script during Picard's log entry, meaning it may be formally part of the name. --OuroborosCobra talk 22:16, December 14, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes, "The" should remain; I checked the script while typing this to confirm what I remembered but forgot to remove the "no the" from what I typed.--31dot 22:22, December 14, 2010 (UTC)

Limits of a metaphor-based language
Should something be mentioned about the glaringly obvious fact that the Tamarians couldn't possibly have constructed advanced starships and the vast technological infrastructre required to support them using only a metaphor-based language? 71.108.68.167 08:58, 10 June 2009 (UTC)
 * No, it's clear they have and there's nothing that states their language started off metaphor-based. Either way anything would be speculation. &mdash; Morder 09:00, 10 June 2009 (UTC)
 * For the latest research on this topic...er, apocryphal explanations...see Tamarian language.– Cleanse 09:20, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

removed
The origins and context of several of the terms and persons referenced suggest that the Tamarian homeworld is Shantil III.
 * Speculation. I briefly considered moving it to a bg note instead, but decided against it because the UFP seems to have extensive knowledge of Shantil III, but nearly none of Tamarians. If this turns out to be from some expanded universe source, then it can go back in the appropriate section of the article of course. -- Capricorn 21:36, December 21, 2010 (UTC)