Re: Vulcan lang question (IDIC) Steven Boozer Fri, 13 Nov 1998 11:26:14 -0600 Forwarded to the vulcan-linguistics mailing list: : From: mingbai : Subject: Vulcan lang question : Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 21:44:23 +0800 :=20 : In addition to general interest, I do have a specific question. I=20 : would like to know if there is a current rendering of the Vulcan IDIC=20 : proverb, which the best I know in English is "From infinite diversity,=20 : infinite combinations" (-- an interesting and precient appreciation for= =20 : multi-culturism). I don't believe the development of Marketa Zvelebil's version of Modern V= ulcan being done by the Vulcan Academy Linguistics Department has progressed to= the point of being able to translate this proverb. Mark Gardner, though, may= want to try rendering it into Old High Vulcan -- visit the Vulcan Language Institute at http://www,teleport,com/~vli/ . However, here's what I do have on IDIC (t'triahve) in my notes: *t'triahve* the concept of IDIC, an acronym for "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations," a cornerstone of the Vulcan philosophy. What prec= isely this means has been the subject of much debate. This central tenet of mod= ern Vulcan philosophy is not easy to define in just a few words. Surak said: = "I am pleased to see that we have differences. May we together become greater t= han the sum of both of us." ("The Savage Curtain") Some of the aspects discu= ssed include celebration of the diversity of the universe, or at least toleran= ce of other cultures and how far this tolerance should go. Some schools of thou= ght say that IDIC tolerates all differences without necessarily adopting them= , while others disagree. Spock wore an IDIC medallion to the shipboard dinn= er in honor of Dr. Jones. ("Is There in Truth no Beauty?"). The triangle-circl= e IDIC pendant in this episode was designed by Gene Roddenberry and has been use= d as a Vulcan national symbol. (STE) "The symbol for IDIC is generally accepted = as the symbol for modern Vulcan society. It is built up of several, quite distin= ct, geometrical shapes arranged in an asymmetric fashion: two non-concentric circles and a triangle. The perhaps surprising harmony of the resultant combination is a direct illustration of how very different components can function well together. The contrast between the rounded and sharp-edged shapes is pleasing to the eye, giving "life" to what could have been a dull insignia." (Maggie Hellstr=F6m) The IDIC symbol has been seen, usually in the backg= round, in several episodes -- most recently on the baseball uniforms of the Vulc= an team from the USS T'Kumbra (DS9 "Take Me Out To the Holosuite"). I have no idea who coined the term *t'triahve* (Marketa?) or what the lit= eral meaning/derivation is. _________________________________________________________________________ Steven Boozer The University of Chicago Library s-boozer*uchicago,edu