Languages in Star Wars - Language Building

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. The language most often heard in the films, Galactic Basic, is itself identical to modern English (or whatever language the film is shown in), with only a few changed idioms and additions of words related to the Star Wars setting. Mando'a, the language of the Mandalorians, is being developed into a working language by Star Wars author Karen Traviss.

Other languages heard are also 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, the voice of Lando Calrissian's copilot, Nien Nunb, was provided by a student speaking Haya, a language from the young man's native Tanzania (Star Wars Insider #67, 31). One can also hear some Finnish in The Phantom Menace. Similarly, "Teräs Käsi", the name of a martial art in the Expanded Universe, comes from Finnish and translates as "steel hand."

The Star Wars: Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide summarizes book and movie information pertaining to Huttese, Bocce, Ewok, Shyriiwook, droid, Jawa, and Gungan.