Talk:Languages in Star Wars

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[edit] Click

There was a click language very similar to the Khoisan languages spoken in Africa. It just switched me on for a few minutes.

Was that my illusion? Did they really use any click languages? Toytoy, April 8, 2004
No, they're still in there. The language is called Geonosian, by the way.

[edit] Clutter

Please do not clutter this page up with opinions on anything, this is for the construction of an article.

Isn't your addition to this page also clutter?

[edit] Fascinating

Wow, that was fascinating, Brian. Tell us more -- much, much more -- about the Star Wars universe!!!! Ed Poor, Tuesday, June 11, 2002

[edit] Chinese speakers

Who the heck wrote "Chinese speakers from around the world have very different accents in English depending on their country of origin"? Can a Chinese person be from any other country than China?

No, but a Chinese speaker can be. – Mipadi 21:04, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
I've clarified-- 'Depending on their country of origin, where they were raised, and/or dialect, speakers of Chinese the world over have different accents when speaking English'Cariel 00:31, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Accents in foreign versions

In the films, Imperial officers usually speak with upper-class British accents, while Rebels have American accents.

Random question: in the foreign-language dubs, is any similar kind of distinction made? --Brion 07:57 Oct 5, 2002 (UTC)

In Japanese dubs, no distinction is made but Imperial officers always speak like bureacrauts, in clipped tones and generally emotionless voices. In most Japanese dubs of movies in English, dialects of Japanese are not used because then, it will sound too familiar or cliched. -- Revth 02:18, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Replaced "Kenya" with "Tanzania"

I note that User:82.156.192.153 replaced "Kenya" with "Tanzania" wrt the locus of the Haya language, saying on Wikipedia:Reference Desk:

I found this page, it says Haya is a language of Kenya. Not true, Haya is a language spoken by people of Kagera, west of Lake Victoria, in Tanzania. Regards, Frans van Velden, fransp@dds.nl

I googled, and found [1], [2], and [3], which confirm what Frans says. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 01:03, 6 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Indonesian

I beleive that at least one language is heavily based on Malay / Indonesian. Does anyone know anything about that? Sir Trollsalot 18:33, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I seem to remember the Ewok speech came from sampling of some African (?) language(s). A-giau 10:59, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
On the DVD audio comentary, Ben Burtt said it was derived from a language used in a remote part of China. He said this over the scene where the Rebels are captured by the Ewoks.
About some fans saying that the Ewoks speak English, I heard that some Swedes thought the Ewoks spoke Swedish and said "Now we are going to take a bath". I guess people hear what they want to hear. 惑乱 分からん 17:05, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
The Ewoks spoke a mixture of Tagalog (Philipines) and Swedish. There are quite a few instances of Swedish including the infamous 'Det luktar flingor här' (It smells like cereal here) in the opriginal films, but this was cut out in the Special Edition =( According to Ben Burtt, however, in Bantha Tarcks #17 August 1982: "For the Ewoks, I was inspired by a recording on a BBC documentary of an elderly woman speaking Tibetan. It was very high-pitched and sounded like a good basis for Ewokese to me. Eventually then, what evolved was a pidgin, or double talk version of words from Tibetan, Nepali and other Mongolian languages. Huttese was created by the same process."Cariel 12:01, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Meaning of "Sounds Like"

Wow, I finally found this page in my bookmarks! It would seem my complaint has been dealt with.

[edit] Why Removed?

Yesterday I added a paragraph after the second one in the "Common Languages" section that suggested that Basic might not actually sound like English, and that English was simply used to avoid excessive subtitles, as you see done in many films (especially historical ones). The example I gave (even though there are countless ones) was Gladiator: all the Romans in that film should speak Latin, but since no one speaks Latin anymore, they all speak English for simplicity's sake, thereby eliminating the need for subtitles throughout the entire movie.

I was just wondering why it was deleted from the article. I thought it was a perfectly reasonable explanation. Perhaps I am just unfamiliar with the procedures of Wikipedia. If anyone can offer any explanation, I would be grateful.

I have a similar question. Is there any canonical source that equates Galactic Basic with modern 20th/21st century English? As opposed to the use of English (or other terrestrial tongues which the Star Wars canon might be translated into) merely as a literary/dramatic convention to assist the reader or viewer? Unless Lucas or another official source has decreed that English = Basic, the claim that they are equivalent should be deleted. Indeed, a more pausible explaination would be that Basic is treated in Star Wars the same way that Westron (the "common" tongue spoken by Men) is treated in Lord of the Rings --EngineerScotty 22:22, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Merge

I have merged the 2 pages, Shyriiwook and Languages in Star Wars. --User:Star Wars' Wiki

[edit] Wookie Language

The article states wookies do not make sounds with their lips yet the example words patently exhibit labially generated phonemes: 'b', 'm', etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.177.12.102 (talk) 00:56, Jun 26, 2006 (UTC)


That's fiction for you!

I think that's just a way of transcribing Wookie sounds into an alphabet. For all we know "b" in Shyriiwook transcription might actually mean [gargling sound at back of throat] or [roar that is at a slightly lower pitch than other roar] or something similar ;) --81.158.147.90 (talk) 15:51, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Removal of Shyriiwook section

I think that the section on the Wookiee language, Shyriiwook, is superfluous. It's a very slightly distilled version of "Star Wars: Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide", and it's incredibly odd to see one language featured like this. It's not like anybody's going to sit here while watching the movies and say, "Wait, was that a 'muwaa' or a 'mu ah'?" Boter 23:05, 6 March 2007 (UTC)