The fictional universe of Star Wars is a multilingual one, in which it is common to have either a passive or active understanding of many multiple languages from numerous alien races and cultures. A fictional universe is a cohesive fictional world that serves as the setting or backdrop for one or (more commonly) multiple works of fiction. ... The DVD cover of the Star Wars trilogy. ...

Common languages

The language spoken most often heard in the Star Wars films is Galactic Basic (shortened to Basic) although this name itself is never explicitly mentioned in the films themselves. Basic is a universal language, used for communication between many different species in the Galactic community. According to role-playing game sources, the language is a constructed language that was created from a mixing of the various native languages of the founding members of the Galactic Republic, including the Duros, the Bothans and Humans. A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game where players assume the roles of fictional characters via role-playing. ... An artificial or constructed language (known colloquially as a conlang among aficionados), is a language whose vocabulary and grammar are specifically devised by an individual or small group, rather than having naturally evolved as part of a culture as with natural languages. ... - Senator Palpatine Form of Government Federal Republic Official language Basic Capital Coruscant Head of Government Chancellor Establishment c. ... ... ... In George Lucas fictional Star Wars universe, Humans are the most numerous and dominant species, with apparently millions of major and minor colonies galaxywide. ...

Galactic Basic is almost identical to spoken American English, although some Imperial officers usually speak with Received Pronunciation-like upper-class British accents, as well as some of the Jedi, including Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, and the droid C-3PO. The majority of the Rebels and most other humans, however, have American accents. Non-humans speaking Basic often also have distinctive accents, sometimes reminiscent of others found on Earth. The Trade Federation viceroys, for example, appear to speak Japanese or Chinese accented English, the Toydarian Watto speaks with a Yiddish accent and Jar Jar Binks' accent and dialect is possibly derived from Caribbean English. American English or U.S. English is the diverse form of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... Received Pronunciation (RP) is a form of pronunciation of the English language, usually defined as the educated spoken English of southeastern England. This is a prescriptivist point-of-view — it is quite possible for an intelligent, educated individual to use a non-standard dialect. ... General Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi (57 - 0 BBY) was a Jedi Master, of legendary status, in the fictional Star Wars universe. ... Qui-Gon Jinn (92 BBY - 32 BBY) is a Jedi Master and the mentor of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the fictional Star Wars universe. ... C-3PO (pronounced See-Threepio, called 3PO for short) is a character from the fictional Star Wars universe. ... The Trade Federation is a fictional organization that exists in the Star Wars universe at the time of the Galactic Republic. ... This article is about minor characters in the fictional Star Wars universe who reside, or at least appear primarily, on the planet Tatooine. ... Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ... Jar Jar Binks (born c. ... Caribbean English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the Caribbean. ...

It is worth noting that languages in the Star Wars universe are not always tied to specific species, just as in the real world languages are not always tied to specific nations or races, but can become the native language of a separate population. Notable non-human dialects of Basic include the Gungans of Naboo's pidgin dialect of Galactic Basic (though they do also have a native tongue), and Yoda's unusual dialect of Basic in which sentences follow an OSV order, rather than the more usual SVO. It is unknown if this is a dialect spoken by all members of Yoda's species, or whether it was a quirk only Yoda possessed. This is a list of species and races from the fictional universe of Star Wars. ... Naboo is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. ... A Pidgin, or contact language, is the name given to any language created, usually spontaneously, out of a mixture of other languages as a means of communication between speakers of different tongues. ... Yoda (896 BBY–4 ABY) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. ... SVO is an acronym for several terms: SVO denotes the sequence Subject Verb Object in Linguistic typology. ...

Another lingua franca in the Star Wars Universe that is spoken by many groups and species is Huttese, most notably spoken on Tatooine. The name Huttese suggests that it was created by the Hutt species and adopted by other races, most likely those involved in business with the Hutts such as the Rodians. It is spoken in the films by both non-humans (Jabba the Hutt, Watto, Sebulba and others) and humans (most notably Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones). Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... Huttese is the language spoken by the fictional Hutt species of the Star Wars saga. ... In George Lucas Star Wars saga, Tatooine is the home planet of the Skywalker family and the setting for much of the action in the sagas films (as well as several of the novels and other pieces of written fiction). ... This is a list of species and races from the fictional universe of Star Wars. ... ... Jabba Desilijic Tiure, or simply Jabba the Hutt, (596 BBY–4 ABY) is a character in the Star Wars movies. ... Sebulba is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. ... Anakin Skywalker is a fictional character from Star Wars. ... Film poster for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 film by George Lucas starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Jake Lloyd. ... Film poster for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) is the fifth Star Wars science fiction movie released and the second part of the prequel trilogy which began with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. ...

The Ewoks of the forest moon of Endor speak a "primitive dialect" of one of the six million other forms of communication that C-3PO is familiar with, although what this language was is unknown. Alternative meanings: Ewoks (cartoon) In the Star Wars series of films, Ewoks are sentient furred bipeds native to the forest moon of Endor who help the Rebel Alliance defeat the forces of the Galactic Empire in the Battle of Endor. ... In the fictional universe of Star Wars, the forest moon of Endor is a moon which is home to the Ewoks and above which the second Death Star was constructed in Return of the Jedi. ... C-3PO (pronounced See-Threepio, called 3PO for short) is a character from the fictional Star Wars universe. ...

Many interspecies conversations in the Star Wars universe are bilingual, with the humans usually speaking Basic and the non-humans speaking their own or a regional language. Code-switching is rare. Code-switching is a term in linguistics referring to alternation between one or more languages, dialects, or language registers in the course of discourse between people who have more than one language in common. ...

Droids and computers

Droids (robots) and computers in Star Wars use either the natural languages that their masters use, usually Basic, or special machine languages. Protocol droids such as C-3PO are "fluent in over six million forms of communication" and are often employed as translators. Astromech droids such as R2-D2 are able to understand commands in Basic and perhaps other languages, but can only communicate through an information-dense language of beeps and whistles; although devices exist that can translate this language into Basic (such as the display in an X-Wing cockpit that allows the ship's astromech and pilot to communicate). Simpler droids communicate only through sounds indicating affirmative/negative, or other simple replies. Alternative meanings: Droids (cartoon) A droid is a robot, specifically the intelligent robots in the fictional Star Wars universe. ... A protocol droid assists its owner in communicating with other species who speak a different language. ... Astromech droids are a type of droid often encountered in the fictional Star Wars universe. ... R2-D2 (also spelled Artoo-Detoo, called R2 for short), is an astromech droid and colleague of C-3PO in the fictional Star Wars universe. ...

Non-humans

Wookiees, the most famous being Chewbacca and Tarfful, are physically unable to speak Galactic Basic. Their native language, Shyriiwook, consists of seemingly animalistic roars and growls that actually form quite a complex language. Although it can be understood by members of other species, it is extremely difficult (if not impossible) for most non-Wookiees to speak; presumably the word 'Shyriiwook' itself, as well as other Wookiee words or names, are transliterations of the original Wookiee sounds into a form more easily pronounced by others. In one of the novels, Leia Organa-Solo encounters a Wookiee with a speech impediment which conveniently renders his Shyriiwook pronunciation much easier to understand by Leia, who was learning the language at the time. A Wookiee is a member of a fictional race of hairy bipeds in the Star Wars universe. ... Chewbacca (or Chewie) (c. ... Tarfful was a Wookiee from Kashyyyk. ... Shyriiwook is the language of the Wookiee people in the fictional Star Wars universe. ... Her Royal Highness, Princess Leia Organa Solo of Alderaan (born 19 BBY), a fictional character in the Star Wars universe played by actress Carrie Fisher in the films and by Ann Sachs in the 1980s radio drama. ... Speech disorders are a type of communication disorders where normal speech is disrupted. ...

Another alien species with an unusual language are the insectoid Geonosians seen in Episode II, whose language seems to consist almost entirely of Click consonants. ... Clicks are stops produced with two articulatory closures in the oral cavity. ...

The Tusken Raiders of Tatooine seem to have no discernable intelligent language in the films, but according to the video game Knights of the Old Republic the Sand People do speak a language of their own; although it is difficult for non-Tuskens to understand. In the game an assasin/translator droid named HK-47 assists the player in communicating with the Tusken Raiders. A Tusken Raider Tusken Raiders (or Sand People) are fictional creatures in the Star Wars saga. ... In George Lucas Star Wars saga, Tatooine is the home planet of the Skywalker family and the setting for much of the action in the sagas films (as well as several of the novels and other pieces of written fiction). ... Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) is an RPG video game originally for the Microsoft Xbox and later for PCs running Microsoft Windows. ... HK-47 HK-47 is an assassin droid from the 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. ...

The Jawas, also found on Tatooine, speak in a high-pitched, squeaky voice, but unlike the Tusken Raiders their languages do consist of vocalised words. Their language can be translated into Basic. ...

Twi'lek speak their own language, Ryl, which incorperates spoken words and a form of sign language, using subtle manipulations of the tips of their lekku, or head tails. Most Twi'lek in the galactic community are also able to speak Basic or Huttese and most speak these languages when not among their own kind. In the fictional Star Wars universe, Twileks are a species with colored skin and two tails—called lekku—protruding from their heads. ...

Ithorians have two mouths, one on each side of their head. Despite the stereophonic quality of their voices, however, their native languages are not wildly different from standard spoken languages used by others; and Ithorians are able to speak Basic, and be understood by others, with ease. Ithorians are the native race of the planet Ithor in the fictional Star Wars universe. ...

Selkath of Manaan speak in a slow, sloshy voice that often takes time to pronounce the smallest of sentences. It cannot be learnt or spoken by most other species. ... Manaan is a fictional planet in the Star Wars universe. ...

Rodians have their own language called Rodese, which seems to be easily understood by most people. Rodians also learn Basic and Huttese easily, some even prefer it over their native tongue. ...

Writing

There is relatively little writing in the Star Wars universe; most telecommunication is by audio or audio/visual transmission. Where there is writing, such as on display screens in vehicles or occasionally on the side of a building, it is often unclear how the writing relates to the languages being used, although the Aurebesh script is claimed to be the definitive method of writing Basic. The Aurebesh language used in the Star Wars movies is actually just a 1-to-1 mapping between English characters and the invented characters of Aurebesh. ...

Arabic numerals do appear throughout the films, mainly on computer displays counting down time or distance. At least one instance of the Latin alphabet crops up in A New Hope ("POWER - TRACTOR BEAM 12 (SEC. N6)"), but this appears to be an anomaly; text in the other films is either illegible, offscreen, or in fictional scripts. For the 2004 DVD release, this writing was changed to Aurebesh, confirming that it is no longer canonical. Arabic numerals (also called Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals) are the most common form set of symbols used to represent numbers are considered one of the most significant developments in mathematics. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world, the standard script of the English language and most of the languages of western and central Europe, and of those areas settled by Europeans. ... This movie poster for Star Wars depicts many of the films important elements, such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters Star Wars, retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981 (see note at Title,) is the original (and in chronological... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for storing data, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... The Aurebesh language used in the Star Wars movies is actually just a 1-to-1 mapping between English characters and the invented characters of Aurebesh. ...

In the novel The Truce at Bakura, the Ssi-ruuk speak some sort of tonal language which involves whistles. A human prisoner devises an orthography for this language, combining musical notation with phonetic characters; however no details are shown in the book. Spoiler warning: The Truce at Bakura is a 1993 science fiction novel by Kathy Tyers. ... Tone refers to the use of pitch in language to distinguish words. ...

Language building

The languages of some fictional worlds have been worked out in great detail, with grammatical rules and large vocabularies, such as J. R. R. Tolkien's Elvish languages and the Klingon language of Star Trek. The fictional languages of Star Wars, in contrast, are not systematically worked out. The Wookiee growls and the beeps of the astromechs mainly carry emotional indicators for the audience via intonation, and Huttese is mainly a jumble of words taken from numerous real human languages. J. R. R. Tolkien in 1916, wearing his British Army uniform in a photograph from the middle years of WW1. ... Elvish languages are constructed languages used typically by elves in a fantasy setting. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... The Enterprise boldly going where no man had gone before. ...

Other languages heard are longer chunks of actual human languages, albeit ones likely unfamiliar to most of the audience. In A New Hope, for instance, the language spoken by the character Greedo in conversation with Han Solo (in the cantina) is actually a simplified version of Quechua, an indigenous language of the Andean region of South America. In Return of the Jedi, Lando Calrissian's copilot, Nien Nunb, speaks the real human language Haya, a dialect spoken in Tanzania (page 31, Star Wars Insider #67). Similarly, the Ewok language was based on Tibetan, although some fans claim that they also hear English being spoken by the Ewoks at some points during the film. This article is about minor characters in the fictional Star Wars universe who are bounty hunters. ... Quechua (Standard Quechua, Runasimi Language of People) is an Native American language of South America. ... Haya (EkiHaya) is a Niger-Congo language spoken by the people of Tanzania, west and northwest of Lake Victoria. ... The Tibetan language is typically classified as member of the Tibeto-Burman which in turn is thought by some to be a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. ...

One can also hear some Finnish in the Phantom Menace. After the first lap of the pod race competition, Watto yells 'Kiitos!' ('Thank You!' in Finnish) to Sebulba, and Sebulba answers 'Ole hyvä!' ('You're Welcome!' in Finnish).

Despite these inconsistencies, the Star Wars: Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide has been published. The guide briefly summarizes official book and movie information pertaining to Huttese, Bocce, Ewok, Shyriiwook, droid, Jawa, and Gungan.

Reference

• Ben Burtt, Star Wars: Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide, ISBN 0345440749.