33

Clearly, he speaks English not very well.

So he must speak another language natively. Which one?

2
  • 29
    I think you mean "English not very well he speaks." :)
    – Dima
    Feb 13, 2012 at 18:47
  • @Dima: Shouldn't you also reverse the order of objects, for "Not very well, English he speaks, hmm?"
    – einpoklum
    Nov 27, 2021 at 21:18

1 Answer 1

39

We don't know much about Yoda's species mostly because "George Lucas maintains a strict policy of keeping the history, name, origin, and whereabouts of this species secret". This is also the case for his native language.

From Yoda's Wookieepedia article :

Yoda spoke an unusual version of Basic. He usually tended to place verbs (especially auxiliaries) after the object and subject (an object-subject-verb format). An example of Yoda's speech pattern: "When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not." Most agreed that this pattern of speech was convoluted, and while it seems as though others of his species (e.g. Yaddle) had the same penchant for rearranging sentences, not all of them did (e.g. Vandar Tokare).

His strange syntax has a high symbolism of Yoda's personality; he always put action last. This fits well with the old master and hermit guru archetypes.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.