Messages

1

Beginners / Re: No word for thank you?

« on: April 07, 2011, 12:00:25 pm »

Ok, that would seem plausible. So they don't voice their gratitude, but show it through gifts and actions

The comparison with the military works quite well. You don't often say thank you or sorry in the military, but honor and respect is shown through actions. I could see that work for the Dothraki.

2

Beginners / No word for thank you?

« on: April 07, 2011, 08:21:46 am »

Let me just start this off again with saying that I have not read the books. I am thus not very familiar with Dothraki culture etc. Perhaps the show can answer my question when it comes out. However, in a preview I noticed that they say that the Dothraki have no word for "thank you". This strikes me as odd.

I know that Dothraki are supposed to be these fierce nomadic warriors, but I simply do not think a language can exist without being able to show gratitude. If they have no word for thank you, they would at least need to have some other phrases to show gratitude. The reason for this is that I don't think even a basic civilization can exist without the concept of gratitude. While the Dothraki culture sure seems basic, they simply wouldn't be able to organize themselves without some basic social skills.

If we look at actual nomadic cultures, they almost always value hospitality greatly (atleast mongols do). And even if the Dothraki are exceptionally individualistic, they would need more social interaction then fighting with everyone from the same sex and having sex with everyone from the opposite sex, like they are wild savages. Surviving in the wild means relying on your fellow tribes man (or whatever Dothraki groups are called) and occasionally interacting with other tribes as well (if only to prevent inbreeding). It requires friendship, camaraderie and kinship. Every human culture has these things!

This means doing favors for one another and that also creates the need for showing gratitude to one another. The fact that Dothraki have no concept of this is absurd. I understand that the Dothraki have little need for pleasantries, but these are very fundamental social skills we are talking about here! How can they have kings and small settlements without this?

Can anyone explain this to me? Is it explained in the book? Can we assume that the Dothraki have some other forms of showing gratitude?

PS: I found this while searching on the subject. Again more evidence that there are no languages that lack a form of gratitude.
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003120.html

3

Introductions / Re: Hello

« on: April 06, 2011, 01:37:43 pm »

I am currently studying in Delft. I might have time in may actually. Where can I find info about it.

4

Introductions / Re: Another introduction...

« on: April 06, 2011, 03:17:03 am »

Yeah, already found that channel.

Anyway, welcome Darcey

5

Introductions / Re: Hello

« on: April 06, 2011, 03:15:37 am »

thanks, I found your video's really helpfull as an introduction. I just think text would make them even more usefull.

6

Introductions / Re: Another introduction...

« on: April 05, 2011, 02:20:03 am »

There is a preview? Awesome. Not sure if I should watch it though. Might get spoiled.

BTW, storytelling through acting and cinematography is always better then cramming in exposition for movies and series. I haven't read the books, but if you look at LotR the books vs the films, the film removes a lot of fluff like backstory about elves and dwarfs, but this is replaced by just showing you places like Rivendell and Moria, where you can imagine the backstory for yourself. Its called "show, don't tell" If the writers are smart, they will do something similar. It seems that they are.

Anyway, welcome.

7

Introductions / Re: Hello

« on: April 05, 2011, 02:14:29 am »

Thanks, I will.

8

Introductions / Hello

« on: April 04, 2011, 05:19:05 am »

Hello everyone,

I am Frederik, 21 years old and from the Netherlands.

I have never read ASOIAF but the series has me excited and I saw some of those awesome learn Dothraki videos.

Anyway, I decided to register for this forum, since it seemed nice.

If I may make a suggestion about the videos.(perhaps I should post it somewhere else)  Perhaps add text to the videos as well, so we can hear and see the phrases. The first thing I did when I saw those videos was take the dictionary (thanks for that btw) and try and find the words that the guy was saying. If you are continuing with lesson vids, I would suggest using windows movie maker to just add some text on the bottom. You could even use youtubes note system if you want.

Anyway, fun to see lots of enthusiasts on this forum. I am not much of a language geek, so not sure why I would want to learn this fake language, but it seems fun.