Why does C-3PO speak to Jabba in Basic/English?












36















It's established that C-3PO can speak the Huttese language, as he does at the gate to Jabba's palace, but when he is performing his interpreting duties for Jabba (for example, when Jabba is negotiating with Leia, disguised as Boushh the bounty hunter), he translates whatever language is being spoken into Basic (shown to us as English).



Why?



Jabba can obviously understand Basic when it's spoken to him, but it's clearly not his native language. Doesn't this seem inefficient, and potentially rude? I can understand the filmmakers wanting to minimize the portion of the movie that requires subtitles, but there's enough Huttese dialog already that it seems like this would be fairly marginal.



Thoughts?










share|improve this question





























    36















    It's established that C-3PO can speak the Huttese language, as he does at the gate to Jabba's palace, but when he is performing his interpreting duties for Jabba (for example, when Jabba is negotiating with Leia, disguised as Boushh the bounty hunter), he translates whatever language is being spoken into Basic (shown to us as English).



    Why?



    Jabba can obviously understand Basic when it's spoken to him, but it's clearly not his native language. Doesn't this seem inefficient, and potentially rude? I can understand the filmmakers wanting to minimize the portion of the movie that requires subtitles, but there's enough Huttese dialog already that it seems like this would be fairly marginal.



    Thoughts?










    share|improve this question



























      36












      36








      36


      1






      It's established that C-3PO can speak the Huttese language, as he does at the gate to Jabba's palace, but when he is performing his interpreting duties for Jabba (for example, when Jabba is negotiating with Leia, disguised as Boushh the bounty hunter), he translates whatever language is being spoken into Basic (shown to us as English).



      Why?



      Jabba can obviously understand Basic when it's spoken to him, but it's clearly not his native language. Doesn't this seem inefficient, and potentially rude? I can understand the filmmakers wanting to minimize the portion of the movie that requires subtitles, but there's enough Huttese dialog already that it seems like this would be fairly marginal.



      Thoughts?










      share|improve this question
















      It's established that C-3PO can speak the Huttese language, as he does at the gate to Jabba's palace, but when he is performing his interpreting duties for Jabba (for example, when Jabba is negotiating with Leia, disguised as Boushh the bounty hunter), he translates whatever language is being spoken into Basic (shown to us as English).



      Why?



      Jabba can obviously understand Basic when it's spoken to him, but it's clearly not his native language. Doesn't this seem inefficient, and potentially rude? I can understand the filmmakers wanting to minimize the portion of the movie that requires subtitles, but there's enough Huttese dialog already that it seems like this would be fairly marginal.



      Thoughts?







      star-wars languages






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













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      share|improve this question








      edited Apr 17 '15 at 14:20









      Null

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      asked Feb 26 '12 at 17:57









      cmckendrycmckendry

      1,02399




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          3 Answers
          3






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          44














          The main reason Hutts do not always speak Basic is a sense of superiority: they believe their native Huttese is a better language, and often prefer to speak through translators rather than lower themselves.



          The same goes for others speaking Huttese - C3PO was possibly not deemed worthy of speaking Huttese when translating lesser beings.






          share|improve this answer



















          • 4





            Exactly. There was an account in the EU of Jabba feeding someone to the rancor who made the mistake of speaking to Jabba in Huttese.

            – Chad
            Feb 27 '12 at 14:30











          • Source: Han Solo trilogy, among others

            – DVK-on-Ahch-To
            May 28 '14 at 18:49











          • Do you have any evidence for this assessment? Or is it merely a hypothesis?

            – GreenAsJade
            Aug 2 '15 at 0:50











          • @GreenAsJade - see my last comment. The evidence was in the Solo trilogy

            – DVK-on-Ahch-To
            Aug 14 '15 at 20:22



















          10














          English is the lingua franca of the Empire. We saw it used as such in the Senate in the first three episodes, the leaders of the trade federation used it, and of course the Emperor speaks it, which by itself would make the language special. As we saw in Return of the Jedi, Jabba conducted business in an open court fashion, surrounded by his advisors, guards, slaves, and pets. He seemed quite confident in his security and the security of the information presented to him. Therefore he would instruct his protocol droid to use the language most people present would understand, and that would be English.






          share|improve this answer



















          • 7





            Technically, they are speaking Galactic Basic, which for some reason comes across as english (it sure doesn't look like english on those signs...)

            – BradleyDotNET
            May 28 '14 at 18:17











          • "By an astonishing coincidence, the two languages sound exactly the same." -- Kang (or Kodos), from a Treehouse of Horror episode, possibly misquoted.

            – Codes with Hammer
            Dec 7 '15 at 15:52



















          0














          That's fine that C3PO spoke English to Jabba since he clearly understood it, but why the hell was C3PO speaking to Boushh in English when he translates what Jabba is saying? Both of them know English, but they wanted C3PO to simply be the middleman to negotiate from their 2 languages? Sure, neither of them speak good English but why the hell does C3PO speak in English to both of them and they speak in their native tongue?



          What's also weird is Jabba's mouth movements were originally conducted in English and then they dubbed over a different language. Mouth movements rarely matched what he was saying in Huttanese but synced perfectly to the subtitles. They could easily dub C3POs talking since his mouth doesn't even move. Laziness? Just for less subtitles?





          share








          New contributor




          Brian Duda is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.




















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            3 Answers
            3






            active

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            3 Answers
            3






            active

            oldest

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            active

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            active

            oldest

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            44














            The main reason Hutts do not always speak Basic is a sense of superiority: they believe their native Huttese is a better language, and often prefer to speak through translators rather than lower themselves.



            The same goes for others speaking Huttese - C3PO was possibly not deemed worthy of speaking Huttese when translating lesser beings.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 4





              Exactly. There was an account in the EU of Jabba feeding someone to the rancor who made the mistake of speaking to Jabba in Huttese.

              – Chad
              Feb 27 '12 at 14:30











            • Source: Han Solo trilogy, among others

              – DVK-on-Ahch-To
              May 28 '14 at 18:49











            • Do you have any evidence for this assessment? Or is it merely a hypothesis?

              – GreenAsJade
              Aug 2 '15 at 0:50











            • @GreenAsJade - see my last comment. The evidence was in the Solo trilogy

              – DVK-on-Ahch-To
              Aug 14 '15 at 20:22
















            44














            The main reason Hutts do not always speak Basic is a sense of superiority: they believe their native Huttese is a better language, and often prefer to speak through translators rather than lower themselves.



            The same goes for others speaking Huttese - C3PO was possibly not deemed worthy of speaking Huttese when translating lesser beings.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 4





              Exactly. There was an account in the EU of Jabba feeding someone to the rancor who made the mistake of speaking to Jabba in Huttese.

              – Chad
              Feb 27 '12 at 14:30











            • Source: Han Solo trilogy, among others

              – DVK-on-Ahch-To
              May 28 '14 at 18:49











            • Do you have any evidence for this assessment? Or is it merely a hypothesis?

              – GreenAsJade
              Aug 2 '15 at 0:50











            • @GreenAsJade - see my last comment. The evidence was in the Solo trilogy

              – DVK-on-Ahch-To
              Aug 14 '15 at 20:22














            44












            44








            44







            The main reason Hutts do not always speak Basic is a sense of superiority: they believe their native Huttese is a better language, and often prefer to speak through translators rather than lower themselves.



            The same goes for others speaking Huttese - C3PO was possibly not deemed worthy of speaking Huttese when translating lesser beings.






            share|improve this answer













            The main reason Hutts do not always speak Basic is a sense of superiority: they believe their native Huttese is a better language, and often prefer to speak through translators rather than lower themselves.



            The same goes for others speaking Huttese - C3PO was possibly not deemed worthy of speaking Huttese when translating lesser beings.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Feb 26 '12 at 18:54









            DVK-on-Ahch-ToDVK-on-Ahch-To

            271k12412951855




            271k12412951855








            • 4





              Exactly. There was an account in the EU of Jabba feeding someone to the rancor who made the mistake of speaking to Jabba in Huttese.

              – Chad
              Feb 27 '12 at 14:30











            • Source: Han Solo trilogy, among others

              – DVK-on-Ahch-To
              May 28 '14 at 18:49











            • Do you have any evidence for this assessment? Or is it merely a hypothesis?

              – GreenAsJade
              Aug 2 '15 at 0:50











            • @GreenAsJade - see my last comment. The evidence was in the Solo trilogy

              – DVK-on-Ahch-To
              Aug 14 '15 at 20:22














            • 4





              Exactly. There was an account in the EU of Jabba feeding someone to the rancor who made the mistake of speaking to Jabba in Huttese.

              – Chad
              Feb 27 '12 at 14:30











            • Source: Han Solo trilogy, among others

              – DVK-on-Ahch-To
              May 28 '14 at 18:49











            • Do you have any evidence for this assessment? Or is it merely a hypothesis?

              – GreenAsJade
              Aug 2 '15 at 0:50











            • @GreenAsJade - see my last comment. The evidence was in the Solo trilogy

              – DVK-on-Ahch-To
              Aug 14 '15 at 20:22








            4




            4





            Exactly. There was an account in the EU of Jabba feeding someone to the rancor who made the mistake of speaking to Jabba in Huttese.

            – Chad
            Feb 27 '12 at 14:30





            Exactly. There was an account in the EU of Jabba feeding someone to the rancor who made the mistake of speaking to Jabba in Huttese.

            – Chad
            Feb 27 '12 at 14:30













            Source: Han Solo trilogy, among others

            – DVK-on-Ahch-To
            May 28 '14 at 18:49





            Source: Han Solo trilogy, among others

            – DVK-on-Ahch-To
            May 28 '14 at 18:49













            Do you have any evidence for this assessment? Or is it merely a hypothesis?

            – GreenAsJade
            Aug 2 '15 at 0:50





            Do you have any evidence for this assessment? Or is it merely a hypothesis?

            – GreenAsJade
            Aug 2 '15 at 0:50













            @GreenAsJade - see my last comment. The evidence was in the Solo trilogy

            – DVK-on-Ahch-To
            Aug 14 '15 at 20:22





            @GreenAsJade - see my last comment. The evidence was in the Solo trilogy

            – DVK-on-Ahch-To
            Aug 14 '15 at 20:22













            10














            English is the lingua franca of the Empire. We saw it used as such in the Senate in the first three episodes, the leaders of the trade federation used it, and of course the Emperor speaks it, which by itself would make the language special. As we saw in Return of the Jedi, Jabba conducted business in an open court fashion, surrounded by his advisors, guards, slaves, and pets. He seemed quite confident in his security and the security of the information presented to him. Therefore he would instruct his protocol droid to use the language most people present would understand, and that would be English.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 7





              Technically, they are speaking Galactic Basic, which for some reason comes across as english (it sure doesn't look like english on those signs...)

              – BradleyDotNET
              May 28 '14 at 18:17











            • "By an astonishing coincidence, the two languages sound exactly the same." -- Kang (or Kodos), from a Treehouse of Horror episode, possibly misquoted.

              – Codes with Hammer
              Dec 7 '15 at 15:52
















            10














            English is the lingua franca of the Empire. We saw it used as such in the Senate in the first three episodes, the leaders of the trade federation used it, and of course the Emperor speaks it, which by itself would make the language special. As we saw in Return of the Jedi, Jabba conducted business in an open court fashion, surrounded by his advisors, guards, slaves, and pets. He seemed quite confident in his security and the security of the information presented to him. Therefore he would instruct his protocol droid to use the language most people present would understand, and that would be English.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 7





              Technically, they are speaking Galactic Basic, which for some reason comes across as english (it sure doesn't look like english on those signs...)

              – BradleyDotNET
              May 28 '14 at 18:17











            • "By an astonishing coincidence, the two languages sound exactly the same." -- Kang (or Kodos), from a Treehouse of Horror episode, possibly misquoted.

              – Codes with Hammer
              Dec 7 '15 at 15:52














            10












            10








            10







            English is the lingua franca of the Empire. We saw it used as such in the Senate in the first three episodes, the leaders of the trade federation used it, and of course the Emperor speaks it, which by itself would make the language special. As we saw in Return of the Jedi, Jabba conducted business in an open court fashion, surrounded by his advisors, guards, slaves, and pets. He seemed quite confident in his security and the security of the information presented to him. Therefore he would instruct his protocol droid to use the language most people present would understand, and that would be English.






            share|improve this answer













            English is the lingua franca of the Empire. We saw it used as such in the Senate in the first three episodes, the leaders of the trade federation used it, and of course the Emperor speaks it, which by itself would make the language special. As we saw in Return of the Jedi, Jabba conducted business in an open court fashion, surrounded by his advisors, guards, slaves, and pets. He seemed quite confident in his security and the security of the information presented to him. Therefore he would instruct his protocol droid to use the language most people present would understand, and that would be English.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Feb 26 '12 at 18:57









            Kyle JonesKyle Jones

            46.3k11141222




            46.3k11141222








            • 7





              Technically, they are speaking Galactic Basic, which for some reason comes across as english (it sure doesn't look like english on those signs...)

              – BradleyDotNET
              May 28 '14 at 18:17











            • "By an astonishing coincidence, the two languages sound exactly the same." -- Kang (or Kodos), from a Treehouse of Horror episode, possibly misquoted.

              – Codes with Hammer
              Dec 7 '15 at 15:52














            • 7





              Technically, they are speaking Galactic Basic, which for some reason comes across as english (it sure doesn't look like english on those signs...)

              – BradleyDotNET
              May 28 '14 at 18:17











            • "By an astonishing coincidence, the two languages sound exactly the same." -- Kang (or Kodos), from a Treehouse of Horror episode, possibly misquoted.

              – Codes with Hammer
              Dec 7 '15 at 15:52








            7




            7





            Technically, they are speaking Galactic Basic, which for some reason comes across as english (it sure doesn't look like english on those signs...)

            – BradleyDotNET
            May 28 '14 at 18:17





            Technically, they are speaking Galactic Basic, which for some reason comes across as english (it sure doesn't look like english on those signs...)

            – BradleyDotNET
            May 28 '14 at 18:17













            "By an astonishing coincidence, the two languages sound exactly the same." -- Kang (or Kodos), from a Treehouse of Horror episode, possibly misquoted.

            – Codes with Hammer
            Dec 7 '15 at 15:52





            "By an astonishing coincidence, the two languages sound exactly the same." -- Kang (or Kodos), from a Treehouse of Horror episode, possibly misquoted.

            – Codes with Hammer
            Dec 7 '15 at 15:52











            0














            That's fine that C3PO spoke English to Jabba since he clearly understood it, but why the hell was C3PO speaking to Boushh in English when he translates what Jabba is saying? Both of them know English, but they wanted C3PO to simply be the middleman to negotiate from their 2 languages? Sure, neither of them speak good English but why the hell does C3PO speak in English to both of them and they speak in their native tongue?



            What's also weird is Jabba's mouth movements were originally conducted in English and then they dubbed over a different language. Mouth movements rarely matched what he was saying in Huttanese but synced perfectly to the subtitles. They could easily dub C3POs talking since his mouth doesn't even move. Laziness? Just for less subtitles?





            share








            New contributor




            Brian Duda is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.

























              0














              That's fine that C3PO spoke English to Jabba since he clearly understood it, but why the hell was C3PO speaking to Boushh in English when he translates what Jabba is saying? Both of them know English, but they wanted C3PO to simply be the middleman to negotiate from their 2 languages? Sure, neither of them speak good English but why the hell does C3PO speak in English to both of them and they speak in their native tongue?



              What's also weird is Jabba's mouth movements were originally conducted in English and then they dubbed over a different language. Mouth movements rarely matched what he was saying in Huttanese but synced perfectly to the subtitles. They could easily dub C3POs talking since his mouth doesn't even move. Laziness? Just for less subtitles?





              share








              New contributor




              Brian Duda is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.























                0












                0








                0







                That's fine that C3PO spoke English to Jabba since he clearly understood it, but why the hell was C3PO speaking to Boushh in English when he translates what Jabba is saying? Both of them know English, but they wanted C3PO to simply be the middleman to negotiate from their 2 languages? Sure, neither of them speak good English but why the hell does C3PO speak in English to both of them and they speak in their native tongue?



                What's also weird is Jabba's mouth movements were originally conducted in English and then they dubbed over a different language. Mouth movements rarely matched what he was saying in Huttanese but synced perfectly to the subtitles. They could easily dub C3POs talking since his mouth doesn't even move. Laziness? Just for less subtitles?





                share








                New contributor




                Brian Duda is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.










                That's fine that C3PO spoke English to Jabba since he clearly understood it, but why the hell was C3PO speaking to Boushh in English when he translates what Jabba is saying? Both of them know English, but they wanted C3PO to simply be the middleman to negotiate from their 2 languages? Sure, neither of them speak good English but why the hell does C3PO speak in English to both of them and they speak in their native tongue?



                What's also weird is Jabba's mouth movements were originally conducted in English and then they dubbed over a different language. Mouth movements rarely matched what he was saying in Huttanese but synced perfectly to the subtitles. They could easily dub C3POs talking since his mouth doesn't even move. Laziness? Just for less subtitles?






                share








                New contributor




                Brian Duda is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.








                share


                share






                New contributor




                Brian Duda is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                answered 6 mins ago









                Brian DudaBrian Duda

                1




                1




                New contributor




                Brian Duda is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.





                New contributor





                Brian Duda is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.






                Brian Duda is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.






























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