Gungan Basic, also called Gunganese, was the language spoken by the Gungans of the planet Naboo. It was a language mostly derived from Naboo settlers' language, Basic, spoken in an accent. Occasionally, a word from Old Gungan would appear in dialogue, a term usually without any obvious meaning unless translated.
Humans could usually understand it and, similarly, Gungans could understand Humans speaking Basic (even in written form). Most one-syllable words pertaining to the self would contain a suffix of -sa, for example, "We-sa" and "You-sa". Many one-syllable words ending in a consonant would end with -u.
Counting in GunganeseEdit
- una - one
- duey - two
- dee - three
- foosa - four
- fife - five
- seeks - six
- sevin - seven
- ate-a - eight
- ninee - nine
- tenska - ten
Common altered wordsEdit
- "Bombad" - superior, superb or great
- "Dowopee" landspeeder
- "Mesa" - I, I am, me, my
- "Mui" - much or a lot
- "Moole" - my or mine
- "Yousa" - you or you are or did you...?
- "Mula" - money or credits
- "Yu" - Objective of you
- "Yous" - your or plural of you
- "Hesa/Shesa" - he/she or he is/she is or did he...?/did she...?
- "Wesa" - we or we are or did we...?
- "Daysa" or "Desa" - they or they are or did they...?
- "Dalee" (or "Daree") - there
- "Them-sa" -them
- "Yesa." - yes
- "No" or "Nosa." - no
- "Dat" - that
- "Disa" or "Dis" - this
- "Okeeday." - okay
- "Looky." - look
- "Smilin." - happy
- "Spake." - speak or say
- "Palos." - pals or friends
- "Hisen." - human
- "Tello" - a story
- "Nutsen" - crazy
- "Longo"- long
- "Boyos"- Boys
- "Messen" - Mess
- "Maken" - Make, makes
- "All-n youse" - All of you
- "Machineeks" - Droids or machines
- "Heyo dalee!" - Hey there!
- "Heyo-dalee! Mesa goen to Hoth in da bombad Star Toursa skeebeetle." - Hello! I am going to Hoth in the great Star Tours ship.
- "Hidoe!" - Hello!
- "How Wude!" - How Rude!
- "Oie boie!" - Oh boy!
- "Oyl, moole, moole." - Oh, my, my.
- "My no know." - I don't know.
- "Ex squeezee me." - Excuse me.
- "Daysa dalee"/"Dalee daysa" - They are there/There they are
- "Mesa doen nutten!" - I'm not doing anything!
- "What yousa spake?" - What did you say?
- "Mesa yous humbule servant." - I am your (plural) humble servant.
- "Mesa luv yous." - I love you.
- "Tank yu." - Thank you.
- "Mesa greeting. In peles mesa comen." - Greetings, I come in peace.
- "Mesa like to visit yousa city. Can wesa goen dalee?" - I would like to visit your city. Can we go to it?
- "Tanken yousa per da meal invitateon." - Thank you for the invitation to this meal.
- "Oh pass pleasa da liquid." - Pass the liquid, please.
- "Disa foosa isa berry good." - This is very good food.
- "Fraidee frog." - Coward.
- "Okee day!" - Okay.''''
- "Selongabye!" - See you later!
The verb to beEdit
- To be (Besa):
- I am - Mesa (if followed by an adjective) or *My (if followed by another verb)
- You are - Yousa
- He is - Hesa
- She is - Shesa
- It is - Isa (pronounced "izzuh")
- We are - Wesa
- You (plural) are - Yousas
- They are - Deysa
* You would use "my" if there was a verb after the "I am", such as "I am jumping" or "I am going". For "I am going", you wouldn't say "Mesa going". But you would say "My goen" because of this rule. (Also, the suffix -ing is replaced by -en. It's "goen", not "going".)
Behind the scenesEdit
The Gungan variant of Basic was first heard in the 1999 movie Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the first installment of the prequel trilogy. Actor Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks in the movie, theorized that Star Wars creator George Lucas invented Gungan language based on the way his son Jett, who was six years old at the time, processed language. After the release of The Phantom Menace, writer Ryder Windham created a Gungan glossary for internal use at Lucasfilm. This document provided English-to-Gungan translations of several common phrases and the numbering system, and also set down the rules for sentence construction.
- Episode I Adventures 9: Rescue in the Core
- Episode I Adventures 10: Festival of Warriors
- Episode I Adventures 11: Pirates from Beyond the Sea
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (novel) (First appearance)
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
- Gungan Trouble!
- General Jar Jar
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (novel)
- Gungan Trouble! (Lexicon)
- General Jar Jar (Lexicon)
- Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide
- Ultimate Alien Anthology
- Rebellion Era Campaign Guide
- "We Need to Talk About Jar Jar"—Star Wars Insider 131
Notes and referencesEdit
- ↑ Star Tours – The Adventures Continue - Translate - Galactic Embassy. Disney.com. Retrieved on January 4, 2013.
- ↑ Although the source does not provide the actual Basic translation, a simple comparison between Gunganese and Huttese can reveal the content of the sentence.
- ↑ Star Wars Episode I: Junior Jedi Training Manual
- ↑ Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
- ↑ Star Wars Kids 2 (2nd edition)
- ↑ "We Need to Talk About Jar Jar"—Star Wars Insider 131