Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide

Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide
Attribution information
Author(s)	Ebenn Q3 Baobab
Publication information
Publisher	Baobab Publishing
Release date	22 BBY (13 GrS) 6 ABY
Type	Guidebook Linguistics

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"Oh, I'm just an old man. Used to be on the Royal Council. Traveled, wrote a lot of books. The Galactic Phrasebook, that was mine."

―Ebenn Q3 Baobab to a spacer

The Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide was a book written by the Human scholar and polymath Ebenn Q3 Baobab. That book was designed for use by other Humans and provided them with simple phrases in several languages other than Galactic Basic Standard. Published by Baobab Publishing, the Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide was first released in 22 BBY, and a new edition was issued in 6 ABY, twenty-eight years later.

History

"A must have when travelling without your protocol droid!"

―Extract from the book's back cover

The Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide was the magnum opus of Ebenn Q3 Baobab, a famous Manda-born Human polymath. A first version of that book was released by Baobab Publishing prior to the fourth month of the year 22 BBY. Shortly before the subsequent outbreak of the Clone Wars, Baobab wrote a supplement to his seminal phrase book, which pertained to the language of the Snivvians, an art-inclined species from Cadomai Prime. The supplement was then made available in the fifty-first issue of the 531st HoloNet News volume, under the title of "Today's Traveler - The Art of Dealing with Snivvians." In 0 ABY, about eight months after the Battle of Yavin, the young Tash Arranda consulted Baobab's book while redacting Death in the Slave Pits of Lorrd, Or: What I Did On My Inter-Term Break, an essay recounting a visit she made to the planet Lorrd with her adopted uncle, the Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole. Six years later, a new version of the Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide was published, while Baobab himself had been retired and suffering from severe dementia for a few years.

Content

"From the restaurant server who anticipates an imminent need for napkins to the improvisational street performer capable of imitating hundreds of species, Lorrdians are capable of responding to your every expression and they are sure to make your visit to Lorrd a delight. As long as you don't play sabacc with them, that is."

―Extract from the first edition

The first edition notably included a chapter pertaining to the Lorrdians, a group of culturally unique Humans from the planet Lorrd in the Kanz sector. The bibliographic reference for that edition was properly written as: "Baobab, Ebenn Q3. Galactic Phrasebook and Travel Guide. Manda: Baobab Publishing, (13 GrS)." The 6 ABY edition included a rather brief travel guide, offering general advice and a glimpse at cantinas, hotels, saunas, and other such facilities in Mos Eisley, a large spaceport on Tatooine. The conversation guide itself contained sections on Bocce, Huttese, Ewokese, Binary, Shyriiwook, Jawaese, Tusken, Old Gungan, Neimoidian and Sullustese. In addition to its purely linguistic content, the guide also advised on how to deal with the native speakers of those languages. The most common—and potentially problematic—situations were covered, such as how to face off with a Tusken Raider, how to shoo bothersome droids, or how to avoid tasting less-than-engaging Gungan food. The whole book was illustrated throughout with lighthearted drawings, often representing a spacer in humorous situations.

Behind the scenes

The Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide first appeared in 2001, in the form of its real-world equivalent, written by Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt. The defunct MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies stated that Baobab had already published his Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide before the Galactic Civil War, during which the game was set. This stood as a continuity error, since the real-world book stated that it was published 6 ABY. However, the Volume 531, Issue 51 of the HoloNet News website showed that a version of that tome was in existence around one month before the Clone Wars. Death in the Slave Pits of Lorrd, an in-universe story written by Adrick Tolliver for the defunct Hyperspace subscriber feature of StarWars.com, confirmed that the book was originally published in 13 GrS—that is, 22 BBY.

Appearances

• Today's Traveler - The Art of Dealing with Snivvians — HoloNet News Vol. 531 #51 (content now obsolete; backup link) (Mentioned only)
• Template:SWG (Mentioned only)
• Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide (First appearance)
• Death in the Slave Pits of Lorrd: A Hyperspace Exclusive on Hyperspace (article) (content removed from StarWars.com and unavailable) (Mentioned only)