The Tamarian language was the spoken language of the Tamarians.
The Tamarians spoke entirely by metaphor, referencing
mythological and historical people and events from their
culture. As a result, Federation universal translators –
although they could successfully translate the individual words
and sentence structure – were unable to convey the symbolic
meaning they represented. Without prior knowledge of the
Tamarians' history and legends, a word-by-word translation was
of no use to someone attempting to communicate with them. This
language barrier led to isolation of the Tamarian people after
all attempts at communication had failed. For example, instead
of asking for cooperation, they would use a phrase such as
"Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra", because their culture's stories
include a tale of two Tamarians, Darmok and Jalad, who were
brought together while fighting a common foe on an island called
Tanagra. The problem with communicating in this fashion is that
without understanding the meaning of the referen