Star Wars: Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide: Beeps, Bleats, Boskas, and Other Common Intergalactic Verbiage

by Ben Burtt

Whether doing business with the Hutts or trying to get a decent haircut on Coruscant, Beeps, Bleats, and Boskas is an invaluable guide for anyone traveling through unfamiliar sections of the galaxy. Vividly illustrated by Sergio Aragones, this handy volume covers the basic situations galactic travelers may find themselves in--plus guidelines for

¸ Greetings--H'chu apenkee, o'grandio "Greetings, glorious host" in Huttese. It doesn't hurt you to be nice, and it might hurt you not to.
¸ Travel arrangements--Zat x'ratch keezo bompaz ha in Bocce, "That scratch was there when I rented the ship."
¸ Asking directions--Chi ita "I am lost," in Ewokese. Don't be afraid to seek help in the forest.
¸ Dining--Dis foosa isa berry "this food is good." It's always best to compliment your Gungan hosts.
¸ Bargaining for your life--Huwaa muaa "Can I buy you a drink." in Wookiee-speak. Try it. It just might work.

A MUST HAVE WHEN TRAVELING WITHOUT YOUR PROTOCOL DROID!


Bonus!--An exclusive "Behind the Sounds" look at making of the Star Wars movies from Academy Award-winning Sound Editor Ben Burtt. Discover the secrets behind the roar of Chewbacca, the chatter of the cantina crowd, and R2-D2's unique eloquence.

Genres: Star Wars, Science Fiction, Humor, Language, Reference, Linguistics, Comedy

Library Binding

First published August 7, 2001

Reviews

[Boris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must admit my rating is perhaps not as relevant as others as this is my first book on sound engineering, but I loved it! There are tons of interesting and quirky facts about recording and mixing sounds to produce entire languages of aliens. And the part that is actually a "guide" is so funny I left me in giggles. I did not expect much, picked it up for casual reading, but it stuck to my hands until it was finished

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful surprise in my Loot Crate this past month, that turned out to be far more amazing than it appeared on the tin. The book is written as a language guide & travelogue for the universe/world's/race's included there, with several expected commentaries on social mores, traditions, and interactions. Which was cute --

But what surprised me was the last fourth of the book, directly by the author reveals the author to be the guy who has worked sound and languages behind-the-scenes for every single Star War's movie out there. He talked about all the sounds and how he found them, how he made the languages, the best parts and the worst flops, and I felt deeply engrossed in another part of the creation of that world.

Definitely on high advisement for people who love this series.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the example sentences are roll-your-eyes silly (such as, "Who was the Wookiee I saw you with last night?"), and some of the lists of words start to blur in the reader's head. I never did find out everything that freaky albino Twi'lek in Return of the Jedi was saying, either, darn it. But it was interesting and often entertaining to learn about the amount of thought that went into the creation of alien and droid languages and sounds and to find out things like the reason why R2D2 registers as "cute." A fun book for Star Wars fans.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes my nerdy heart so happy!! Someone put some real work into this & it is still solid information. (And yes, I realize I might have just hit a new nerd level by attempting to learn some non-existent languages from a famous nerd movie.)

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for two reasons: One, for Sergio Aragones art work. TWo, for the non-fiction section that dealt with how the sound effects were done.

[Andrew Nease · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all, this book was pretty fun. It's been twenty-one years, now, since I first got my copy of The Essential Guide to Droids for my tenth birthday, and anything that expands my knowledge of the Star Wars universe is still welcome. The opening 'travel guide' part was funny and somewhat informative, but I have to admit it was a little disappointing: the unfortunate fact is that most languages heard in Star Wars are glorified sound effects that are cruelly insensitive to its fans' obsessive-compulsive desire to actually communicate that way, and compared with some other franchises not that much thought goes into building up the actual languages. I was expecting something more along the lines of a Star Wars version of Marc Okrand's Klingon Dictionary, or The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, by Ruth S. Noel (yes, I own both those books. Have I ever given you the impression I'm NOT that big a nerd?), but that's not what they're selling. Though, who knows: if Disney keeps putting out series or (His will be done!) makes some more movies, we might get that yet.

I need to emphatically restate, however, that what this is instead is still a pretty enjoyable read that gives you some insight into the culture of the Star Wars universe even if you don't learn that much about linguistics, and it's often funny.

And the second part, with Ben Burtt talking about how he did the alien speech effects and language creation for the movies, is worth the price of admission in itself. You got a legend in his field conversationally sharing a slice of cinematic history. What's not to love?

In short: this is an underrated must-have for any Star Wars fan, and a pretty digestible read.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a casual Star Wars fan, but I picked this up mainly as a big fan of Sergio Aragones's cartoons, which oddly don't grace the book's cover itself. The first part of the book is presented as a tongue-in-cheek but virtually unreadable (to me) foreign phrase book of the alien languages of the Star Wars universe. The second was a fascinating first-hand account of sound designer Ben Burtt's work developing and recording those alien languages in the original trilogy and beyond. It intriguingly includes a translations of what characters are saying in various scenes including when Han is talking to Greedo or what R2D2 is saying in the opening scene of A New Hope.

[Samuel Saul Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute book!

Part 1 was an in-universe travel guide that included little alien language guides and tidbits about the cultures of those species. It also specified it was being written three years after the Battle of Yavin, so it'll be placed on the chronology.

Part 2 was the Star Wars sound guy talking about how the various sounds we came to know and love came to be. It was very enjoyable and I'd recommend it to other Star Wars fans.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is essentially two books in one - a fake guidebook and a non-fiction section about how Ben Burtt created some of the iconic sounds for the Star Wars franchise. I love them parts equally! The guidebook is amusing and contains many phrases that a fan might like to know. The behind-the-scenes part is fascinating, mostly because Burtt is such a fascinating person himself. A fun short read.

[Megan]

DNS 7/15/2021

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of this book is a fun little joke, but doesn't read through very well. It reads like the travel guide that it is supposed to be. If you really want to learn some Huttese or Ewok, it is great for some small tidbits of that. Otherwise, skim this section and jump to the end. The last part about how Ben Burtt went about creating sounds for Star Wars was incredibly interesting. It made the whole book worthwhile. So fascinating!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The nerd in me was excited to pick this up used for cheap and the Sergio Aragones illustrations are an added bonus, having loved his stuff in MAD for years. The behind the scenes story written by the "sound god" Ben Burtt are an awesome chapter to have as well, but I would only recommend it to people who totally want to nerd out while watching the films.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read about weird languages,gave it to my sister to read.
got a new copy!

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read for any Star Wars fan.

[Paul Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome little book for learning about the various Star Wars languages and how sound genius Ben Burtt created them.

[Dev S · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun little gift book style thing. I feel like there is some research and consistency lacking for a 'rigorous' attempt at this.