Sith(language)
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- "Dzworokka yun; nyâshqûwai, nwiqûwai. Wotok tsawakmidwanottoi, yuntok hyarutmidwanottoi"
- ―The Rule of Two[5]
Sith was the native language ofthe people ofZiost andKorriban. It was adopted as the mystical language of theSith Order after theDark Jedi Exiles enslaved the Sith species. Sith was an agglutinative language, in which words or even phrases were made up of linears sequences of distinct meaningful units. Despite the preeminence of theGalactic Basic Standard, the Sith language remained in use up until thepost-Imperial era. To theLost Tribe of Sith, an order founded on the remoteplanetKesh, the Sith language was known asthe Old Tongue.
Usage[]
- "By the Empress! I... I can read it perfectly!"
"Of course you can, my son." - ―Satal Keto acquiring the knowledge of Sith language fromKingOmmin[9]
The spellbook of Freedon Nadd was written in Sith
Originally, this language was only spoken by theSith, aspecies ofred–skinnedHumanoids[10] from theStygian Caldera.[11] It was later expanded upon and evolved when the second generation ofDark Jedisplit from theJedi Order in7000 BBY, just after theBattle of Corbos, and enslaved the natives ofKorriban.[10] The Sith language became a symbol of the newly createdSith Order, a powerful sect ofdark side adepts. This was made easier through the creation of devices known astranslation talismans.[9] Such artifacts, initially designed and created by the Jedi Exiles who sought to learn of the Sith's secrets, allowed their wearer to read the Sith language as if it were their own mother tongue.[12] TheCode of the Sith, originally penned in Basic by the ExileSorzus Syn and inspired by the lifestyle of the Sith Purebloods,[1] was also translated in Sith language as Qotsisajak.[13]
Around5000 BBY, theSith dreadnaughtOmen was forced to crash land on the remoteplanetKesh. The marrooned Sith were never able to to return to space, so they settled amongst the nativeKeshiri and founded theLost Tribe of Sith. This allowed the Sith language to expand far from its cradle.[4] In this marginal Sith colony, the language became known as "the Old Tongue".[14]
Three of Master Atris's Sith holocrons
Even after the majority of Sith were of other species than the Sith Pureblood, the language was preserved inholocrons,[15] temples, and tomes.[9] However, outside of the dark side circles, very few scholars knew how to decipher this language, and even fewer could pronounce its complex word structures.[12] Much later, in the eleventh century before theBattle of Yavin, theHumanDarth Bane became familiar with the tongue of the ancient Sith during his studies at theAcademy of Korriban, unlike most of his fellow students. Bane would seek the wisdom of Masters longdead inleather-bound volumes covered withblood-red ink.[2]
Millennia after the founding of the Sith Order, individuals as modern as the fallen JediVergere[16] andJerec[17] or theSullustannaturalistDr'uun Unnh,[18] spoke it. The members of the Lost Tribe of Sith also managed to preserve the knowledge of the Old Tongue, and all members from apprentices and higher knew it. For example,Vestara Khai was able to use it to communicate with a pack ofTuk'ata on Korriban.[14] The last members of theOrder of the Sith Lords founded by Bane,Darth Sidious and his successive apprenticesDarth Maul,Darth Tyranus andDarth Vader, were all capable of speaking Sith fluently.[19]
Phonology and accent[]
The phonetic palette of the Sith language consisted of 23 phonemes or speech sounds. There were approximately 11 obstruents and 6 or 7 sonorants: /t/, /d/, /k/, /q/, /m/, /n/, /ts/, /dz/, /s/, /z/, /h/, /t͡ʃ/,/j/ /ʃ/, [ɹ/l], /w/, /ʎ/ .[20] Accordingly, the graphemic system to represent these wast,d,k,q,m,n,ts,dz,s,z,h,ch,j,sh,r/l,w,y.[5]
There were also 6 distinct vowels: /i/ ori (as in "heat"), /æ/ orâ (as in "bash"), /u/ oru (as in "suit"), /ʌ/ orû (as in "club"), /oʊ/ oro (as in "toad"), /ɑ/ ora (as in "ah").[5] In addition,a ando would combine withi to make diphthongs:oi (as in "toy") andai (as in "buy").[5] The epenthetic vowel was /u/.
Because of this limited segment inventory, Sith scribes faced difficulties when trying to translate non-Sith names. For example, the name ofPalpatine would have to be transcribed asMarmûtin, as the Sith language did not have a "p" sound or an "l" between two consonants. To overcome such difficulties, creative scribes would actually translate the name into their language based on its etymology.[5] Assimilation from borrowed lexical items is preferred by place of articulation: in Palpatine, /p/ > /m/
Sith morphemes—the smallest meaningful units in the grammar of a language—were often made of closed syllables (syllables ending with consonants), which made them sound brisk and choppy. The language was regularly stressed, with every word accented on the first syllable.[5]
The Sith language discouraged vowels in hiatus, and glides /j/ or /ʎ/ were inserted when two vowels appeared next to each other. The phrasesiqsayanjat ("about a demon") was in fact composed ofsiqsa ("demon") andanjat (ablative noun marker), with the addition of the glidey to eliminate the hiatus.[21]
Morphology[]
The language of the Sith extensively employed regular agglutination and used derivative suffixes to a greater extent thanGalactic Basic Standard. Many different markers could be added to a root until very long words were formed—and a single word could constitute an entire sentence. For example, the phrase "because of dreaming about a demon" translated in Sith as a single wordkûskutsiqsayanjat. This word was made of four distinct morphemes:kûsk +ut +siqsa +(y)anjat = "to dream" + (nominal verb marker) + "demon" + (ablative noun marker). Some markers could be added only to nouns, and others only to verbs.[5]
Grammar[]
Word order[]
The typical declarative word order of Sith was verb / subject / object — for example, "Wonoksh Qyâsik nun" was literally "Shall free / the Force / me". However, there also existed prepositional phrases, and subjects or objects could sometimes be put at the front of the sentence for emphasis.[13]
Verbs[]
Verb roots were typically one syllable and ended with a consonant. Moods, tenses, and other subtleties were indicated by suffixation verb markers. For example, the addition of-atul expressed the alethic mood, the speaker's belief that an action was logically necessary or obviously true. (The phraseChâts nu midwan would be "I gain power", while its alethic formChâtsatul nu midwan could be translated as "I necessarily gain power.") Also, the addition of-oksh expressed future tense. (For instance,Won Qyâsik nun meant "The Force frees me," whileWonoksh Qyâsik nun meant "The Force shall free me.") The suffix-win was sometimes added to a transitive verb to indicate ergativity, meaning that the grammatical subject of that verb was in fact its semantic object, while the true semantic agent remained unexpressed. (In the phrasekotswinot itsu or "my chains break," the action described is in fact being done to the subjectitsu by an undetermined agent.)[13] Thanks to the suffix-ut, verbs could also be nominalized. (For example,kûsk was "to dream" whilekûskut was "the act of dreaming.")[5]
Nouns[]
Sith nouns had cases, inflectional forms indicating their grammatical relation to other words in the sentence. Those cases were expressed by the addition of a noun marker. Known cases were the instrumental case (-jontû), the ablative case (-anjat), the dative case (-ottoi). Instrumental case indicated that the noun it marked was the means of the accomplishment of the action expressed by the clause; for instance,ashajontû meant "through victory." As regards the ablative case, it could be best translated in Basic using the preposition "about." The wordsiqsayanjat meant "about/concerning a demon." A noun was in the dative case when it was used as an indirect object:midwan was "power" whilemidwanottoi meant "for/to the power."[5]
Written forms[]
- "Somehow, the Massassi script, with hooks and barbs on each glyph, seemed more menacing than any curses they could call down."
- ―Corran Horn[18]
Exar Kun reading Sith hieroglyphs
The Sith language was originally written in complex hieroglyphics. Over thecenturies, Sith scribes wished to develop less complicated scripts. This resulted in the creation of two different scripts. The first one, known as "Common Sith" was used for mundane, everyday use, while the other, "High Sith" was for ecclesiastical use.[6] A third writing system known as theKittât was also used for incantation scrolls. The latter consisted of thirty-seven runes, and was suitable for both calligraphy and epigraphy.[5]
TheMassassi warriors who followed theSith LordNaga Sadow inexile on thefourthmoon ofYavin Prime also developed their own hieroglyphic system, a simplified version of High Sith. They carved many inscriptions using thisnew writing system ontemple walls and obelisks scattered across the jungle of Yavin 4,[6] notably in theTemple of the Blueleaf Cluster[18] or at the monumental rear entrance of theGreat Temple.[22] When theSullustan naturalist Dr'uun Unnh explored Yavin 4 on behalf of theAlliance to Restore the Republic, he successfully translated some of the Massassi texts contained in theTemple of Exar Kun.[22] When theNew Jedi Order ofLuke Skywalker established itsacademy on Yavin 4, Skywalker and some of his students learnt to decipher that script, which allowed them to read theBooks of Massassi.[23]
Known vocabulary[]
| Sith | Basic |
|---|---|
| 'Ari | "Lord"[25] |
| Ajak | "Doctrine"[5] |
| Aleph | A letter in theCommon Sith alphabet[23] |
| -anjat | Ablative noun marker[5] |
| Asha | "Victory"[13] |
| -atul | Alethic mood verb marker[13] |
| Châts | "To gain"[13] |
| Chirikyât | "He Who Causes Them to Throb and Tremble in Fear"[5] |
| Chwayat | "Rule, law"[5] |
| Chwayatyun | "TheRule of Two"[5] |
| Chwit | "To throw"[21] |
| Chwûq | "Ember"[1] |
| Daleth | A letter in theCommon Sith alphabet[23] |
| Derriphan | "Devourer"[26] |
| Dwomutsiqsa | "Summon demon"[1] |
| Dzwol | "To exist, abide"[5] |
| Dzu | "Leaf, leaf-shaped object"[21] |
| Grotthu | "Slave" (referring to the lowest caste of the Sith species)[1] |
| Hadzuska koshûjontû | "Shadow-born"[1] |
| Hâsk | "Anguish"[5] |
| Hyal | "To crave"[5] |
| Itsu | "Chain"[13] |
| Jen | "Dark", "shadow", "hidden"[25] |
| Jidai | "Jedi"[25] |
| Jen'ari | "Dark Lord (of the Sith)"[25] |
| Jen'jidai | "Dark Jedi" (referring specifically to the Dark JediExiles of theHundred-Year Darkness)[25] |
| Jensaarai | "Hidden followers of truth"[25] |
| Jiaasjen | "Integrating the shadow"[25] |
| -jontû | Instrumental noun marker[13] |
| Kaggath | An ancient rite of the Sith[27] |
| Kaph | A letter in theCommon Sith alphabet[23] |
| Kintik | "Blackest" (plural form)[1] |
| Kissai | "Priest caste"[1] |
| Kots | "To break"[13] |
| kun | "Only" (used as a suffix)[13] |
| Kûsk | "To dream"[5] |
| -kut | Collective plural noun marker[5] |
| Lamed | A letter in theCommon Sith alphabet[23] |
| Massassi | "Warrior caste"[1] |
| Midwan | "Power"[5] |
| Mwintuska hâskûjontû | "Pain-coddled"[1] |
| Nin | "Tie, knot"[5] |
| Ninûshwodzakut | "Knotters of entrails"[1] |
| Nu | "I"[13] |
| Nun | "Me"[13] |
| Nuyak | "My" (plural)[13] |
| Nwit | "Small, few"[21] |
| Nwûl | "Peace"[5] |
| Nyâsh | "Big, much, many"[5] |
| Odojinya | "Dark Side Web"[1] (not literal meaning)[21] |
| -oksh | Future tense verb marker[13] |
| -ottoi | Dative noun marker[5] |
| Qabbrat | "Meditation chamber"[28] |
| Qâzoi Kyantuska | "Suppress Thought"[1] (not literal meaning)[21] |
| Qo | "Way, path"[13] |
| Qorit | "End"[5] |
| Qotsisajak | "Code of the Sith"[13] |
| qû | Comparative particle[5] |
| Qyâsik | "The Force"[13] |
| Rhak-skuri | "Dreamsinger"[14] |
| Samekh | A letter in theCommon Sith alphabet[23] |
| Sedriss | Sith word of unknown meaning adopted byQaga Lok as a title[29] |
| Shokkai | Translation unknown[1] |
| Sith | "Supreme", "premier", "perfect"[1] |
| Sith'ari | "Overlord/King", "the perfect being", "god"[1] |
| Saarai | "Truth"[25] |
| Saarai-kaar | "Keeper of truth"[25] |
| Shâsot | "Struggle, passion"[13] |
| Shin | A letter in theCommon Sith alphabet[23] |
| Siqsa | "Demon"[5] |
| Sutta | "Spear"[21] |
| Sutta Chwituskak | Idiom denoting intense hatred or intent to harm, literally "Flung Spears"[21] |
| Taral | "He who protects", "protector"[30] |
| Tash | "Lie"[13] |
| -tok | Ordinal number marker[5] |
| Tsaiwinokka Hoyakut | "Reanimated Dead"[1] (not literal meaning)[21] |
| Tsawak | "Embodiment"[5] |
| Tsis | "Sith"[31] |
| Tsisajak | "Sith doctrine"[13] |
| Tsyok | "To squeeze with the hand"[5] |
| Tuk'ata | "Sith hound" (a species ofSithspawn)[32] |
| Typhojem | "The Left-Handed God" (an ancient Sith deity)[1] |
| Tyro | Sith trainee yet to become an apprentice to a Master (Used by theLost Tribe of Sith , may beKeshiri in origin)[33] |
| Tyûk | "Strength"[13] |
| -ûsh | Agentive verb marker[1] |
| -ut | Nominal verb marker[5] |
| wai | Negation particle[5] |
| -win | "Ergative verb marker"[13] |
| Wo | "One"[5] |
| Wodza | "Intestines"[5] |
| Won | "To free"[13] |
| Woyunoks | "Little one"[1] |
| Yun | "Two"[5] |
| Zayin | A letter in theCommon Sith alphabet[23] |
| Zuguruk | "Engineer" (referring to a caste in the Sith society)[1] |
Known phrases[]
- Dzworokka yun; nyâshqûwai, nwiqûwai. Wotok tsawakmidwanottoi, yuntok hyarutmidwanottoi.—"Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody power, the other to crave it."[5]
- Eyah seh maat, shu kor huaan.—Unknown. Something soothing.[14]
- Haa, neyo la yud masur kee, tah uhnah kahru lur shu.—Unknown. Something menacing and challenging.[14]
- Ja'ak.—"I am free."[34]
- Na-hah ur su ka-haat. Su ka haru aat.—Unknown. Most likely something as: "Lead the Sith to us if there are any here."[14]
- Taka zeech ma toka duuwaj.—Unknown. An incantation to gain access to a Sith obelisk.[12]
- Ur-kaa!—Unknown. Probably something such as "Halt!" or "Freeze!"[14]
- Vexok savaka.—"Wake up, there is work to do."[34]
- Zhol kash dinora.—"It is done."[34]
Behind the scenes[]
- "To that end, I imagined a tough—but not barbarous—language, one that could convey a kind of confident, elegant cruelty. And Sith would have to ring with authority so you could envision it functioning among elites of the dark side the way Latin functioned in Europe for centuries: as a repository of culture and learning."
- ―Ben Grossblatt[5]
Early incarnation of the Sith language
The Sith language first appeared in the 1990scomic book seriesStar Wars: Tales of the Jedi. At the time, occurrences of that language consisted of nonsensical words, composed only of unpronounceable series of consonants—such asNkrttw flgkllm shprrlt mdnnq.[8] This version of Sith does not blend well with ulterior appearances in canon, and should probably be considered an artistic license. InSpeak Like a Sith, Ben Grossblatt noted that no one would even try to speak a language if it consisted of unpronounceable words liker'rhhoqtk.[5] However, in theaudio drama adaptation ofTales of the Jedi, the instances were Exar Kun speaks Sith sounded very different from their comic book counterpart, featuring a variety of vocalic sounds.[35]
In the2004 video gameStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Darth Nihilus was heard communicating in the same fashion as the Sith holocrons kept by Atris, leading some fans to believe that the Dark Lord spoke Sith. However, when working on theKnights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide,Star Wars authorAbel G. Peña wrote a whole passage devoted toNihilus' mask that was ultimately cut. It would have notably provided two scholarly explanations of Nihilus' speech. According to that cut passage, the Dark Lord's hissings may have either been the last language ever spoken in the galaxy, billions of years into the future, at the end of time, or the raw dialect of the Force itself, untranslated bymidi-chlorians.[36]
Speak Like a Sith
InNovember2010, senior editorBen Grossblatt, who has degrees in linguistics, created a functional Sith language for theBook of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side. His work included Sith rules of grammar and sentence construction and a Sith runic script. More information about the creation of this language was revealed inSpeak Like a Sith, an article featured in theStar Wars Insider 134.[5] Sith is the second working conlang ever developed for theStar Wars universe, the first beingKaren Traviss'Mando'a.[37]
While Grossblatt's system is realistic and functional, there are conflicts between his version of the Sith phonology and Sith vocabulary established in previous works. While theStar Wars Insider article states that the Sith has no 'e' 'p' or 'f' sounds, words or names such as "derriphan" "Ffon," "aleph",Jen'ari,Jen'jidai,Jensaarai or "Kressh" have appeared in older canon sources. Not even "Korriban", the name of the Sith species' homeworld, can be written using this system, due to the lack of 'b'. In fact, even some of the new words that were invented forBook of Sith—including "Grotthu" and "Zuguruk"—cannot be properly transcribed.[1][5] Although Grossblatt did create "new" Sith words consistent with his conlang for the caste names, they did not make it into the final version of the book.[21]
Audio[]
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| Exar Kun speaks in the Sith language |
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| Exar Kun speaks in the Sith language again |
Appearances[]
Non-canon appearances[]
- "Light and Dark"(Unlicensed)
- "Shadows in the Force"(Mentioned only)(Unlicensed)
- "The Betrayal of Darth Revan"(Unlicensed)
