Oonta Goota Solo? - Han Solo and Greedo [w/ transcription] / Star Wars (1977)
The Greedo and Han Solo scene (with lead in), with Greedo's language transcribed. Turn on CC for transcription (also included below). from Star Wars (1977)
From studying linguistics and how the brain processes auditory speech, sounds formed from speaking are many times arbitrary in how they are interpreted by the brain -- two people can hear sounds differently, particularly consonants. What the ear hears is aided by what the eyes see from the movement of the mouth -- see The McGurk Effect ( http://youtu.be/2k8fHR9jKVM ) for an example of this, how the brain plays tricks on us, and how what we end up "definitively" hearing is sometimes very arbitrary.
Remove the aid of mouth and lip movements and it becomes even more arbitrary. (Since Greedo has no lip and mouth movements for the brain to interpret and solidify what the ear hears.)
The written subtitles above are taken from the book Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina (1995), edited by Kevin J. Anderson. This might be considered canon in some circles, but really there are multiple ways to interpret Greedo's speech.
I've made Greedo's opening line "oonta goota solo?" because this phrase (or the variation "oota goota solo") has been prominent on the Internet for some time, and titled it this for easier searchability.
I have refrained from editing / tweaking Kevin J. Anderson's subtitles above in an effort to preserve his version, which by all accounts in 1995 was the first.
Additionally, even reading someone's subtitles along with hearing the speech can affect your interpretation - my advice to you, if you want to purely hear your own interpretation, is to turn off subtitles, listen to Greedo's speech with no transcribed text, and make note of what you hear on your own.
Additionally, regarding the artistic element of any written transcription: as we know from thousands of years of written Western languages, even what is written down is many times not a precise phonetic representation of the spoken version, so the written form often adds its own layer of ambiguity and a lack of even an attempt to be phonetically accurate, even in accepted written language.
EDIT: Test Pattern's posting is a solid improvement over Anderson's in different ways. (Although I would contend as an example "kuthuow" is still preferable over "kuthuma". This is a prime example of how subjective hearing can dictate what results we hear.)
--
"Oota goota, Solo?" (Going somewhere, Solo?)
"Yes, Greedo, as a matter of fact I was just going to see your boss. Tell Jabba that I've got his money."
"Somepeetchalay. Vara trahm ne tach vakee cheetha. Jabba wanin cheeco-wa rush anye katanye wanaruska, heh heh heh. Chas kin yanee ke chusoo." (It's too late, you should have paid him when you had the chance. Jabba's put a price on your head so large every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you. I'm lucky I found you first.)
"Yeah, but this time I've got the money."
"Enjaya kul a intekun kuthuow." (If you give it to me, I might forget I found you.)
"I don't have it with me. Tell Jabba--"
"Tens hikikne. Hoko ruya pulyana oolwan spa steeka gush shuku ponoma three pe." (Jabba's through with you. He has no time for smugglers who drop their shipments at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser.)
"Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?"
"Tlok Jabba. Boopa goompah-kne et an anpaw." (You can tell that to Jabba. He may only take your ship.)
"Over my dead body."
(That's the idea. I've been looking forward to this for a long time.) "Ukle nyuma. cheskopokuta klees ka tlanko ... ya oska."
"Yes, I'll bet you have."
[blaster goes off; barrage of light and smoke]
random patron: "Mamoo lu!"
"Sorry about the mess."
