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TheStar Wars space opera universe, created byGeorge Lucas, features some dialogue spoken infictional languages. Thelingua franca of the franchise is known in-universe as Galactic Basic, which refers to the language of the film or work itself, be it English or a language that the work was dubbed or translated into.
Characters often speak languages other than Basic, notably Shyriiwook spoken byChewbacca and otherWookiees, droidspeak spoken byR2-D2 andBB-8, Ewokese spoken byEwoks, and Huttese spoken byJabba the Hutt. None of these language names appear in theStar Wars films themselves.
The fictional languages were approached assound design and developed largely byBen Burtt, sound designer for both the original and prequel trilogies of films. He created alien dialogue out of the sounds of primarily non-English languages, such asQuechua,Haya, andTibetan. This methodology was also used inThe Force Awakens bySara Forsberg. Lucas also insisted that written text throughout the films look as dissimilar from theEnglish alphabet as possible, andconstructed alphabets were developed.
Critics contend the languages constructed for the films compared unfavorably with the trueconstructed languages found in some other fictional works. The usage of heavily accented English for extraterrestrials characters was also criticized as contributing to the suggestion of racial stereotypes.
Language development was approached assound design and was handled byBen Burtt, sound designer for both the original and prequel trilogies. He created the alien dialogue out of existing non-English language phrases and their sounds, such asQuechua forGreedo in the originalStar Wars film andHaya for the characterNien Nunb inReturn of the Jedi.[1] He also used English, as in the originalStar Wars, where he synthesized originally English dialogue from aWestern film until it sounded alien.[2] Burtt said of the process: "It usually meant doing some research and finding an existing language or several languages which were exotic and interesting, something that our audience — 99 percent of them — would never understand."[3]
This methodology to create the sound ofalien languages was carried into production ofThe Force Awakens. DirectorJ. J. Abrams askedSara Forsberg, who lacked a professional background in linguistics but created theviral video series "What Languages Sound Like to Foreigners" onYouTube, to develop alien dialogue spoken by Indonesian actorYayan Ruhian.[1] Forsberg was asked to listen to "Euro-Asian languages", and she drew fromGujarati,Hindi, and other Asian languages[4] as well asIndonesian andSundanese, Ruhian'snative language.[1] She also listened to languages she did not understand to better structure the words and sentences to sound believable.[4]
During production of the prequel trilogy, Lucas insisted that written text throughout the films look as dissimilar from theEnglish alphabet as possible and strongly opposed English-looking characters in screens and signage. In developing typefaces for use inEpisode II – Attack of the Clones, including Mandalorian and Geonosian scripts, graphic artist Philip Metschan created alphabets that did not have twenty-six letters like the English alphabet.[5]
Galactic Basic, often simply Basic, isthe language of the work itself — in-universe, it is thelingua franca predominantly spoken by the inhabitants of the galaxy.[1][6][7]
Lucas intended to balanceAmerican accents andBritish accents between the heroes and villains of the original film. He also strove to keep accents "very neutral", notingAlec Guinness andPeter Cushing'sparticular British accents, which he perceived as "sort of mid-Atlantic neutral accents".[8] In critical commentary onEpisode I – The Phantom Menace, Patricia Williams ofThe Nation felt there was a correlation between accent and social class, noting thatJedi speak with "crisp British accents" while the "graceful conquered women of theNaboo" and "white slaves" such asAnakin andShmi Skywalker "speak with the brusque, determined innocence of middle-class Americans".[6]
To decide on the sound ofNute Gunray, aNeimoidian character portrayed bySilas Carson, Lucas andRick McCallum listened to actors from different countries reading Carson's lines. Eventually, they chose a heavilyThai-accented English, and Carson rerecorded the dialogue to mimic the Thai actor's accent.[9] Gunray's accent was described by critics to be "HollywoodOriental" that contributed to criticism of Gunray as an Asian stereotype.[6][10][11]Watto's accent was similarly criticized as lending toanti-Semitic andanti-Arab connotations.[6][11]
"When gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be."
Yoda characteristically speaks a non-standardsyntax of Basic, primarily constructing sentences inobject–subject–verb word order rare in natural languages. This sentence construction is cited as a "clever device for making him seem very alien" and characterizes his dialogue as "vaguely riddle-like, which adds to his mystique". This tendency is noted to be written for an English-speaking audience; the word order is retained inEstonian subtitles, where it is grammatical but unusual and emphatic, and Yoda's dialogue is insubject–object–verb word order inCzech dubs.[12]
Gungan characters, notablyJar Jar Binks, speak in a heavily accented Basicdialect critics described as a "Caribbean-flavoredpidgin",[10] "a pidgin mush ofWest African,Caribbean andAfrican-American linguistic styles",[6] "very likeJamaican patois, albeit a notably reductive, even infantilized sort",[13] and suggestive of stereotypicalAfrican-American culture.[14] This was cited as a trait that led to criticism of the Gungan species as a racially offensive stereotype orcaricature.[10][13][14]
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Aurebesh is analphabet used to represent spoken Galactic Basic (i.e. English) and is the most commonly seen form ofwritten language in theStar Wars franchise;[7][15] its letters correspond to each English letter, plus certain Englishdigraphs.[16]
The alphabet was based on shapes designed byJoe Johnston for the original trilogy, which are briefly featured in screen displays inReturn of the Jedi. Johnston's design, calledStar Wars 76, was used to create afont and again used inAttack of the Clones by Metschan, who incorporated the font alongside the later Aurebesh version used in the spin-off products.[5]
In the early 1990s, Stephen Crane, art director atWest End Games, became intrigued with the shapes as they appeared on theDeath Star. He sought to develop them into an alphabet to be used in West End Games' licensedStar Wars products, primarily to allow players to render their characters' names, and received permission fromLucasfilm to do so as long as it was presented as one of many alphabets in theStar Wars galaxy, not the sole and exclusive alphabet. After copying the letters from screenshots by hand, he standardized the letters based on shapes similar to theEurostile font. He named and assigned a value to each letter, and derived the name "Aurebesh" from the names of the first two letters: aurek and besh. Once Crane completed the alphabet, Lucasfilm requested a copy to distribute to other licensees.[16]
In anticipation of the December 2015 release ofThe Force Awakens,Google Translate added a feature to render text into Aurebesh in November 2015, which was subsequently removed in February 2016.[7][15]
Archaic speech samples are found inThe Clone Wars season 3.Mother Talzin, a Witch of Dathomir associated with theNightsisters, is found speaking Dathomiri while possessing Darth Maul on Dathomir.
In April 1994, the then unidentified language first appeared in Dave Wolverton'sThe Courtship of Princess Leia, when the young Teneniel Djo unleashes a Spell of Storm on Luke Skywalker and Prince Isolder of Hapes. Throughretroactive continuity,Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (a 1985 made-for-TV film) was the language's first real appearance. In this story, Charal – a witch later retconned as a Nightsister – was seen incanting spells over a crystal oscillator.
Binary is a language consisting of beeps and other synthesized sounds used by somedroid characters, such asR2-D2,BB-9E andBB-8.[1] Burtt created R2-D2's dialogue in the originalStar Wars with anARP 2600analog synthesizer and by processing his own vocalizations via other effects.[17] InThe Force Awakens, BB-8's dialogue was created by manipulating the voices ofBill Hader andBen Schwartz with atalkbox running through a sound effects application on aniPad.[18] Although binary is unintelligible to the viewing audience, many characters in the Star Wars films are able to understand it, most notablyLuke Skywalker.
TheEwoks of the forest moon ofEndor speak a "primitive dialect" of one of the more than six million other forms of communication thatC-3PO is familiar with. Ben Burtt,Return of the Jedi’s sound designer, created the Ewok language, orEwokese.
OnReturn of the Jedi DVD commentary track, Burtt identified the language that he heard in the BBC documentary asKalmyk Oirat, a tongue spoken by the isolated nomadicKalmyks. He describes how, after some research, he identified an 80-year-old Kalmykrefugee. He recorded her telling folk stories in her native language, and then used the recordings as a basis for sounds that became the Ewok language and were performed by voice actors who imitated the old woman's voice in different styles. For the scene in which C-3PO speaks Ewokese, actorAnthony Daniels worked with Burtt and invented words, based on the Kalmyk recordings.[19] In a previous scene as C-3PO levitates, the Ewoks also spoke words (such as "look", "this", and "beautiful") ofTagalog.
Marcia Calkovsky of theUniversity of Lethbridge holds that Tibetan language contributed to Ewok speech along with Kalmyk, starting the story from attempts to use language samples of Native Americans and later turning to nine Tibetan women living in the San Francisco area, as well as one Kalmyk woman.[20] The story behind these languages' choices is referenced in Burtt's 1989 telephone interview, and many of the used Tibetan phrases translated. The initial prayer Ewoks address to C-3PO is the beginning of a Tibetan Buddhist prayer for the benefit of all sentient beings and/orbrahmavihāras (orapramāṇas). There is also the second quarter of arefuge prayer. People of theTibetan diaspora were puzzled, as many phrases they understood did not correlate to events on screen.
In the originalStar Wars film,Greedo speaks an unspecified alien language understood byHan Solo; it was later identified as Rodian.[21] Bruce Mannheim described Greedo as speakingSouthern Quechua in "morphologically well-formed" phrases with sentences ultimately meaningless. Allen Sonnefrank, a Quechua speaker andlinguistic anthropology student atUniversity of California, Berkeley, claimedLucasfilm contacted him to record Quechua dialogue for the film. He was told the dialogue was to be played backward for the film. Sonnefrank refused to record the dialogue, feeling it to be a "potentially exploitative move best made by one whose first language was Quechua, if at all".[22]
A language based on theQuechuan languages,[23]Huttese is alingua franca in theStar Wars universe. It is spoken by many groups and species, onNal Hutta,Nar Shaddaa,Tatooine and other worlds in and around Hutt Space, the region of the galaxy under the Hutts' sphere of influence. In theStar Wars Legends continuity, the area covers former Hutt Empire dominions.
It is spoken in the films by both non-humans (Jabba the Hutt,Watto,Sebulba and others) and humans. NotablyThe Max Rebo Band communicate and sing in Huttese. Many Huttese alphabets are featured through the franchise, most notably the Boonta alphabet and Nal Huttese. The one considered "canonical" by fans is one found on promotionalPizza Hutpizza boxes.[24][25]
TheJawas, also found on Tatooine, speak in a high-pitched, squeaky voice. To speak to others of their species, along with speech, they emit a smell showing their emotions.[26] When trading droids and dealing with non-Jawas, they speak without the smell because many consider the smell "foul". A famous exclamation in Jawaese is "Utinni!", as screamed by a Jawa to the others inA New Hope, shortly after blasting R2-D2.
The Kenari language spoken in the third episode ofAndor is a blend of Portuguese, Spanish, andHungarian (Magyar).[27]
A written form of theMandalorian language was developed by Metschan for the display screens ofJango Fett's shipSlave I inAttack of the Clones,[5] and it was later reused inThe Clone Wars andRebels.[28][29] Composer Jesse Harlin, needing lyrics for the choral work he wanted for the 2005Republic Commando video game, invented a spoken form, intending it to be an ancient language. It was namedMando'a and extensively expanded byKaren Traviss, author of theRepublic Commandonovel series.[30]
Mando'a is identified as a primarily spoken,agglutinative language lackinggrammatical gender in nouns and pronouns.[31][32] The language is also identified as lacking apassive voice, primarily speaking in anactive voice. It is often vague and described as having threegrammatical tenses (present,past, andfuture). Its speakers typically do not use the tenses other than the present.[31][33] The language is described as having amutually intelligible dialect called "Concordian" spoken on the planetConcord Dawn, as stated in Traviss's novelsOrder 66 and501st,[34][35] and a dialect spoken on Mandalore's moon Concordia is heard in "The Mandalore Plot", a season two episode ofThe Clone Wars.[36]
The Sith language, intended to be spoken bySith characters, was created by Ben Grossblatt for theBook of Sith, published in February 2012. Language development and a writing system began in November 2010. Grossblatt sought to create a pronounceable language that was not "cartoonish" and "would conform to the patterns of principles of [human] [sic] language". He felt that it needed to "feel martial and mystical" and be a "suitable, aesthetically-pleasing vehicle for communication". He intended the language's sound as "tough—but not barbarous" and as "convey[ing] a kind of confident, elegant cruelty". To achieve "formal, quasi-military" and "imposing, undeniable" qualities, he preferredclosed syllables, creating brisk and choppy words. The language is constructed asagglutinative.[37]
Shyriiwook, also known as Wookieespeak,[3] is a language consisting largely of roars and growls spoken by theWookiee species, notablyChewbacca. Non-Wookiee characters are capable of understanding Shyriiwook, such as Chewbacca's friendHan Solo.[22] Chewbacca's dialogue was created fromwalrus,camel,bear, andbadger recordings from Burtt's personal sound library. One of the most prominent elements was anAmerican black bear living inHappy Hollow Park & Zoo,San Jose, California. The sounds weremixed in different ratios to create different roars.[38]
Tatooine'sTusken Raiders use a language difficult for non-Tuskens to understand, althoughthe Mandalorian inThe Mandalorian was able to understand and respond in their sign language. According to theKnights of the Old Republic video game, they speak a language of their own. In the game, a droid namedHK-47 assists the player in communicating with the Tusken Raiders. They commonly utter roars and battle cries when seen in public.
The script forThe Mandalorian episode "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" stated that the Mandalorian and a Tusken Raider communicate using a sign language, and a hearing member of the crew who knew sign language encouraged the production to look for a deaf person to consult on the sign language and play the Tusken Raider.Troy Kotsur was cast in the role, and he developed the Tusken Sign Language based on the environment and culture of the Tusken Raiders rather than usingAmerican Sign Language.[39] The hand shapes used for the language were kept simple. For example, thesign name for the Mandalorian is a flat handshape based on the letter M to outline the gaps in a Mandalorian helmet and the sign name forGrogu is one's hands on either side of the head to indicate big ears.[39][40] The Tusken Raiders also converse in Tusken Sign Language inThe Book of Boba Fett.[41]
Ubese is a language heard in aReturn of the Jedi scene where a disguisedPrincess Leia bargains with Jabba the Hutt through C-3PO as a translator. Leia repeats the same Ubese phrase three times, translated differently in subtitles and by C-3PO each time.David J. Peterson, linguist and constructed language creator, cited his attempt as a young fan to reconcile this apparent impossibility as an example of how even casual fans may notice errors in fictional constructed languages.[42] He identified Ubese as a "sketch" of a language rather than a fully developed language and categorized it as a "fake language" intended to "give the impression of a real language in some context without actually being a real language".[43] Ultimately, he was critical of Ubese as "poorly constructed and not worthy of serious consideration".[44]
Ben Zimmer labeled the method of language construction inStar Wars "a far cry" from that of constructed languages likeKlingon,Na'vi, andDothraki,[1] and he described the use of language as "never amount[ing] to more than a sonicpastiche".[45]
Linguistic anthropologist Jim Wilce summarized analyses of language inStar Wars conducted through the Society for Linguistic Anthropology'selectronic mailing list. David Samuels described the approach to language as instrumental and compared the films to aSummer Institute of Linguistics convention, in which "there are no untranslatable phrases, and everyone can understand everyone else", and pointed out that the "idea that the Force is something that would be understood differently in the context of different grammars is never broached". Hal Schiffmann made five observations about language inStar Wars: all humans speak English and no other real-world language, there is "mutualpassive bilingualism" in which characters speaking different languages understand one another, non-human creatures may have their own languages but are translated by C-3PO, certain non-English vocalizations serve to confuse or amuse the audience rather than serve as language, even non-English speaking characters are expected to understand English. Zimmer supported Schiffmann's claim that untranslated alien languages are not representations of real languages by pointing to the film's script, which describes the language of the Jawas as "a queer, unintelligible language" and that of the Tusken Raiders as "a coarse, barbaric language". Wilce also pointed out discussion on the usage of real non-English to create the "Otherness" of characters such as Jabba the Hutt, Greedo, and the Ewoks.[22]
It was the same word for "mother" or "father".Mando'a didn't bother with gender.
I thought youMando'ade lived only for the day. You even have trouble using anything but the present tense.
It wasn'tMando'a, but it was close enough for any Mandalorian to understand.
In Concordian, the Concord Dawn dialect ofMando'a, the phrase—brother, sister—sounded very similar.
He was speaking in the dialect they use on Concordia, our moon.
