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- Bliss: "He says he's found something in your droid's forbidden memory bank. Words. Translated from Sith?"
- Rey: "That's it."
- Finn: "Yeah, that's what we need."
- Bliss: "Who are you hanging out with that speaks Sith!?"
- ―Zorii Bliss to Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron[src]
ur-Kittât, commonly known as Sith or the Old Tongue, was the runic language of the Sith. It was spoken by members of the Sith Order and the Sith Eternal cult as a secret language and written in a runic form.
Contents
Usage[]
- "This writing… it's in the old tongue."
- ―Ahsoka Tano
The Sith used the Old Tongue in their rituals.
ur-Kittât was originally spoken by the Sith. It commonly adorned their temples, such as the Sith Citadel on Exegol,[4] and their obelisks, such as the ones found outside the Malachor Sith Temple.[1] The writing was also in the tomb of Darth Bane [6] and the Lothal Jedi Temple.[7] The language was also used in Sith rituals.[8] However, by the time of the Galactic Republic and amidst an effort to quarantine Sith worlds and erase Sith history,[4] ur-Kittât was considered a forbidden language, and the Senate passed legislation forbidding protocol droids from translating any texts from it.[2] Despite this prohibition, Darth Bane's Sith Order continued to use both ur-Kittât and its Balc dialect.[6] Some Jedi were also familiar with how to read and speak the language.[1]
The dagger
By the reign of the Galactic Empire, ur-Kittât was known as "the Old Tongue"[1] or simply "Sith."[2] However, it continued to be spoken by Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious, who taught it to his apprentice, Darth Vader.[3] The language was also etched into a dagger containing the whereabouts of the Emperor's wayfinder, which led to the hidden Sith world of Exegol.[2]
Written forms[]
- "Dzworokka yun;
nyâshqûwai, nwiqûwai.
Wotok tsawakmidwanottoi,
yuntok hyarutmidwanottoi" - ―Transliteration of runic inscriptions by the Sith Eternal regarding a dyad in the Force
ur-Kittât was written in runes.[2] Several variations of its written form existed, as the text Ahsoka Tano translated outside the Malachor Sith Temple was of a very old form.[1] Line spacing, breaks, and inflection could change the meaning of certain words and sentences, as the Sith Eternal inscriptions concerning the prophecy of the dyad between Ben Solo and Rey were almost exactly like inscriptions describing the Rule of Two.[4]
Known vocabulary[]
| Sith | Basic |
|---|---|
| Krataa | "Death"[3] |
| Irluuk | "Fate"[3] |
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
The Sith language originates in the Star Wars Legends comic-book series Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, published in the 1990s. At the time the language was composed of nonsensical words, composed of unpronouncable consonants.[9] In November 2010, senior editor Ben Grossblatt, who has degrees in linguistics, created the modern functional Sith language for the Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side.[10]
Appearances[]
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Sacrifice" (First appearance)- Lords of the Sith
- Lords of the Sith audiobook
- Star Wars Rebels – "Path of the Jedi" (Written form only)
- Star Wars Rebels – "Twilight of the Apprentice" (First identified as old tongue)
- Star Wars Rebels – "A World Between Worlds"
- The Mandalorian – "Chapter 16: The Rescue"
- Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker (First identified as Sith)
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition audiobook
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: A Junior Novel
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: A Junior Novel audiobook
Sources[]
- Star Wars Rebels: Visual Guide: Epic Battles
- Twilight of the Apprentice Episode Guide on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary (First identified as ur-Kittât)
- The Star Wars Book
- Star Wars: Card Trader (Card: C-3PO - 2021 Base)
- Blade of Ochi of Bestoon in the Databank (backup link)
- Malachor Sith temple in the Databank (backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
Star Wars Rebels – "Twilight of the Apprentice"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lords of the Sith
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary
- ↑ The Star Wars Book
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Sacrifice"
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels: Visual Guide: Epic Battles
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels – "A World Between Worlds"
- ↑ Tales of the Jedi – Dark Lords of the Sith 4
- ↑ "Speak Like a Sith"—Star Wars Insider 134
