Star Wars Explains The Sith Language In Canon

Star Wars has revealed more details about the Sith language, ur-Kittât (or the Old Tongue), showing just how complex it is for Sith Lords to master.

Ur-Kittât, the ancient language of the Sith, has been more properly explained in Star Wars canon. Because of the focus on the galaxy’s heroes, the Sith have never been quite as fleshed out in Star Wars movies as the Jedi, and as such many of their secrets are still to be uncovered. That only makes them even more intriguing though, because of how the Sith operate in the shadows and dabble in much darker arts that can push the limits of the Force further than most Jedi would ever dare to attempt.

Star Wars has gradually been exploring more of the Sith in the Disney era, in large part due to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. That movie introduced some key elements that have necessitated further explanations, such as the hidden Sith redoubt of Exegol, and the idea of an ancient Sith language, seen on the dagger Rey uses to find the Death Star II remains.

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The Sith Language, ur-Kittât was first introduced in Star Wars Legends, via the Tales of the Jedi comic books. There, it originated as the language of the people of Korriban, the original Sith homeworld (renamed Moraband), and was more developed with greater translations and known words. However, The Old Tongue has made only a few canon appearances since then. Written in runic and designed to sound fearsome, the Sith language was banned by the Galactic Republic, with protocol droids like C-3PO prevented from translating it. Star Wars tie-in book Secrets of the Sith, written as though in-universe by Emperor Palpatine, gives further details on ur-Kittât, explaining:

“The most sacred of the prophecies studied by the Sith Eternal were transcribed in ur-Kittât, the forbidden language of the Sith. Like the dark side itself, ur-Kittât requires mastery to decipher. A simple change in inflection can alter a prophecy completely, opening ancient doctrines to a number of interpretations. The cowards of the Galactic Republic banned the language of the Sith in an attempt to bury its deep truths. Even protocol droids were prohibited from translating its hidden wisdom. Yet, just like the Order that spoke it, the Old Tongue refused to be erased. It still lives on in ancient Sith holocrons, on temple walls, and in the whispers of my most devoted disciples.”

Star Wars has shown how ur-Kittât lived on through the generations. It was notably seen at the Sith Temple on Malachor in Star Wars Rebels, and then C-3PO translated the Sith language in The Rise of Skywalker, but Palpatine’s words make the Old Tongue all the more intriguing. The idea and power of langauge hasn’t factored much into Star Wars, but it does make sense that this ancient form of speaking and writing would require a level of mastery, and equally that it survived alongside the Sith, passed down in secret from Master to Apprentice (with both Palpatine and Vader able to speak it).

Palpatine’s comment that a change in inflection can alter a prophecy fits with two key Sith aspects: the Rule of Two and the Force dyad. It’s believed that the Rule of Two is rooted in the idea of the dyad – two who become one in the Force, which is something the Sith tried and failed to create (a dyad requires the dark side and the light). The Doctrine of the Dyad seemingly pre-dates the Sith, but when translated to the Sith language the text is almost identical to that of the Rule of Two, with inflections and line breaks changing meaning, further showing the relationship between the two, but also how they could have been interpreted differently over the years too.

Next: Star Wars’ Force Dyad History & All Reveals Explained

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