Aurebesh! Canon or EU?

Old Plympto · Post by **Old Plympto** » 2004-09-23 04:49am

When I saw the Aurebesh list on the SW Monopoly ages ago, I used to think that Aurebesh was canon because they looked like the resembled that old screen on ROTJ.

Then I read this article some years later and I thought, oh, the Aurebesh is EU. Just an adaptation of the gibberish on the ROTJ screen. Its presense on Anakin's N-1 cockpit display is just a cameo appearance.

In AOTC, I realized that the Delta-7 and some Coruscant buildings also had Aurebesh lettering... so this must certainly be more than just an EU appearance. Finally, now we have the Aurebesh lettering on the ANH tractor beam controls... Translatable by us, even!

So now, what is the canonity status of Stephen Crane's Aurebesh now?

His Divine Shadow · Post by **His Divine Shadow** » 2004-09-23 05:01am

G-level I assume

Kazuaki Shimazaki · Post by **Kazuaki Shimazaki** » 2004-09-23 05:16am

Don't lose all hope, the pronunciations (which I've told were totally moronic) arne't canon yet - just the alphabet.

Of course, this is another case of improper EU contamination of canon.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2004-09-23 06:14am

I'd say it's canon now, whether we like it or not.

Old Plympto · Post by **Old Plympto** » 2004-09-23 09:48am

Kazuaki Shimazaki wrote:Don't lose all hope, the pronunciations (which I've told were totally moronic) arne't canon yet - just the alphabet.

Of course, this is another case of improper EU contamination of canon.

There's a pronounciation list??

So if we spell "BOBA FETT" in Aurebesh, it's somehow pronounced "Bebop Fap" or something?

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2004-09-23 10:35am

Hmm, so Aurebesh is an invention of an EU-author? And now it´s seen in Ep. I, II, IV and originated in garbled letters in VI? I´d say that qualifies as G-canon, yes.

Btw, what language is that in R2´s translator when he speaks to Luke in the X-wing? Aurebesh as well?

Quadlok · Post by **Quadlok** » 2004-09-23 02:54pm

One thing I wonder about when people bitch about Aurabesh not synching up with the screens in ROTJ is that they can be rationalised without to much effort. Those screens could easily be either acronym heavy, using special symbols in the same way Greek letters are often used in english, or simply be using the same or a similar alphabet but with different sounds assigned to each letter. All these examples exist in the real world and there is no reason they shouldn't exist in Star Wars as well.

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2004-09-23 04:00pm

Or they could be some form of elaborate code. It´s possible, with the heavy security around the DS II construction site.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-09-23 06:54pm

Elaborate code does not display on your scanner screens; its recognized by the computer. The humans don't verify massive clearance codes.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-09-23 07:03pm

I would guess that the examples of text written with Aurebesh that can be clearly rendered into readable English present in TPM and now ANH might be a form of nondiegetic autotranlation, which is how the English text in ANH originally functioned as. The texts are written with the Aurebesh alphabet to preserve their alien nature, but are still in English so that the viewer can understand the message if they want.

Another example of this is the Hebrew inscription on Vader's life support box. That text is legable and can be rendered into a sensible phrase that connects with Vader's character background, but is probably written in Hebrew as a nondiegetic autotranslation to correspond with an in universe language that has a similar religeous significance.

I would also venture that the other examples of Aurebesh that are not translatable in the films are probably presented in their raw diegetic context, because their meaning is either addressed in the film or is not considered dramatically important.

Old Plympto · Post by **Old Plympto** » 2004-09-23 07:58pm

VT-16 wrote: Btw, what language is that in R2´s translator when he speaks to Luke in the X-wing? Aurebesh as well?

Good question. I tried to read it by pausing my old THX laserdiscs (the 9-disc boxed set, woot!) but I still can't read it because of my old dinosaur TV. Can anyone with a HDTV can make out what they say using the new DVDs?