Editing 890: Etymology

{{comic
| number    = 890
| date      = April 25, 2011
| title     = Etymology
| image     = etymology.png
| titletext = For some reason, my childhood suspension of disbelief had no problem with the fact that this ancient galaxy is full of humans, but was derailed by language. There's no Asia OR Europe there, so where'd they get all the Indo-European roots?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic references one of the scenes from the sci-fi classic ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' set in {{w|Mos Eisley Cantina}} at the spaceport on {{w|Tatooine}}, a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

In this scene {{w|Obi-Wan Kenobi}} (with the beard) and {{w|Luke Skywalker}} on the left are trying to get off the planet secretly and they enlist help from {{w|Han Solo}} and {{w|Chewbacca}}.

Han Solo tells Luke he is captain of the famous ship the ''{{w|Millennium Falcon}}''. When Luke asks what that is, Han brags "It's the ship that made the {{w|Millennium_Falcon#Kessel_Run|Kessel Run}} in less than 12 {{w|parsecs}}!" But it turns out that what Luke asks about is what a {{w|falcon}} is.

{{w|Etymology}} is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. [[Randall]] wonders what Luke would say to Han if he had no idea what a falcon was.

Normally in sci-fi aliens would have some familiarity with Earth and the things you can find on it, such as falcons. However, Star Wars takes place "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" where nobody knows Earth even exists, possibly before falcons exist, thus how could the Millennium Falcon be named after an animal they have no knowledge about?  This could be an example of a translation convention made for the sake of the audience; presumably, fast birds of prey exist in the ''Star Wars'' universe, one of which is the namesake of Han Solo's ship, which is then artistically translated from Basic to English as "Falcon".  Likewise with the parsec, which is a unit defined by the distance of a star from the Earth which experiences a '''par'''allax of one arc'''sec'''ond when viewed six months apart (i.e. it is the length of a triangle with a base of 1 AU and the opposite angle of 1 arcsec).  A galaxy which is home to space-faring civilizations will have units of similar magnitudes, which are converted into parsecs for our convenience.

In the Star Wars novelization, this joke is made in reference to a duck: [http://www.galaxyfaraway.com/gfa/2006/04/kenobi-and-the-extraterrestrial-duck/]

<blockquote>
Kenobi: I understand you are quite a pilot yourself. Piloting and navigation aren’t hereditary, but a number of the things that can combine to make a good small-ship pilot are. Those you may have inherited. Still, even a duck has to be taught to swim.

Skywalker: What’s a duck?

Kenobi: Never mind.
</blockquote>

Having grown up on a desert world, Luke would have no idea of what a duck or any other kind of waterfowl is, while Obi-Wan Kenobi could have seen such creatures during his time as a Jedi (Captain Panaka uses the "sitting ducks" metaphor in ''The Phantom Menace'', so they are known to exist in ''Star Wars'' canon). Perhaps Luke would have understood if Obi-Wan had used a desert creature in an equivalent analogy.

In the title text, Randall muses over the fact that he as a child did not have any problems dispensing his disbelief in a distant galaxy full of humans, but was still derailed by the language. It would seem unlikely that another galaxy has creatures so similar to humans, while at the same time being filled with so many other types of creatures.

The bit about {{w|Indo-European}} roots is another reference to etymology. English is a language descended from a language called Proto-Indo-European, or PIE (along with most languages in Europe, West and South Asia), thus many words in these languages can ultimately be traced back to PIE. Randall wonders how the vocabulary in Star Wars can also be traced back to PIE despite the lack of Europe or Asia in that universe.

==Transcript==
:[Four people are sitting around a small round table in a room with large windows, presumably the [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Chalmun's_Spaceport_Cantina|cantina] from ''Star Wars: A New Hope''. The four are Obi-Wan Kenobi in a cloak and with beard, Luke Skywalker with black hair down his forehead and down his neck, Han Solo with shorter black hair and the hairy creature is Chewbacca. On the table is two cylinders, a white and a smaller black. Outside the window is two alien creatures walking by. Closest is a creature looking like a Rodian (like Greedo) and further back is a creature with two black horns on top of a regular Cueball like appearance, in the vein of Devaronians. They walk in a street outside with buildings behind.]
:Han Solo: Han Solo. I'm captain of the ''Millennium Falcon''. 

:[Zoom in on Luke:]
:Luke Skywalker: What's that?

:[Zoom in on Han:]
:Han: It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs!

:[Zoom in on Luke:]
:Luke: No, what's a falcon?

:[Zoom in on a silent Han. Beat panel.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Animals]] <!-- Falcon -->