Chapter Text

"The Dai Bendu language was spoken by the members of the ancient Order of Dai Bendu on the frozen planet of Ando Prime. The name of the Je'daii Order was forged in that language."

"Every language is like a one-of-a-kind species. It captures unique conceptualizations of the world and has its own ways of constructing words, phrases and sentences for communicating ideas. As we compare the words and structures of various languages, we come to a greater understanding of our world. (...) Language captures how we perceive the world around us and how we relate to one another, it defines who we are. The Mother tongue language we grow up with is the one used to express what is in our hearts; our heart language."

"Studying language is invaluable for learning about other cultures and mapping their respective developments, histories, myths, customs, etc. Linguistics also helps us understand and document geographical /environmental influences, periods of migration/diaspora, origin of certain spiritual beliefs, etc. through the study of things like cognates, shared myths between cultures, language families, and tracking differences in word usage and dialects over a long period of time."

Sources:

Wookiepedia on Dai Bendu

Second Quote

Third Quote

“Tamah qa brok vaversi, ji enoah qa mikodail orhma bika!”

Or, in literally: “Outside it is cold, but we are all warm together here”, a greeting to welcome somebody home.

This work is meant to act as a guide further explaining the syntax and semantics of our Jedi Conlang Dai Bendu . 

We, ghostwriterofthemachine and loosingletters, have decided to make a working conlang for the Jedi, incorporating their philosophy and culture, based on the three words we have of Dai Bendu in canon.

ghostwriterofthemachine: I am a Masters student studying English, as well as an MFA student in poetry. I speak English, Spanish, and Esperanto, and know just enough about French and German that I can cheat my way through a reading at a first-grade reading level, which makes me not nearly as cool as loosingletters. My focus is in translation studies, deep syntax and semantical analysis of English grammar, and the study and analysis of how the language you think in determines how you think — the building blocks of meaning in which you construct the world. The idea of giving that to the Jedi was way too fun to miss out on.

loosingletters: I’m a German third-year English language and literature student with a focus on contrastive syntax - comparing English and German syntax - as I’ll hopefully someday teach English. I speak German and English, have my Latinum, and remember some high school French and Spanish (and hopefully I will get started on Ancient Greek sometime soon.) I am forever in awe of ghostwriterofthemachine’s determination and skill level. I’m especially interested in how giving the Jedi a concrete language opens up new discourse topics.

aroacejoot: I am a freshly graduated college student with a BA in linguists and my focus in on phonetics and writing systems. I primarily study Japanese with some German on the side. I also have some experience with the Ainu language as well as a tiny bit with a couple Salishan languages (Sliammon and Lushootseed) but given that I am personally not Native I won't be drawing from those experiences much. I was brought onto the project after the first month to make sure that two grammar-syntax focused nerds remember that the mouth noises also need to make sense. I made my first con-script in highschool when i made a vertical cursive and ive kinda never stopped being obsessed with writing systems. I just *clenches fist* really love languages.

This project was born after a rather entertaining discussion about the repercussions of Jedi having their own language. We hereby give you permission to use this language in your own projects. We only ask that you credit us as we have put quite a lot of work into constructing this language. Either link back to this series or this work in particular or @ us on tumblr @dai-bendu-conlang. And if you have any questions, we'll gladly answer them! 

That being said, we hope you enjoy our nerdy project and get inspired to make your own. Have fun exploring some of our thoughts when constructing this language.

Chapter Text

Possessives

While Dai Bendu has 7 overt cases, it doesn’t have an overt genitive case. We chose to forgo this case to show the Jedi’s stance on possession/attachment. So instead of a phrasing that emphasizes your rights to the object, we decided to put emphasis on the object itself.

English: Anakin’s lightsaber

Dai Bendu: The lightsaber of Anakin

Possessive Constructions in Dai Bendu

Dai Bendu expresses possessives/ownership with the dative construction kat [pronoun in dative case], which translates to “of [person]”. The dative case ending is -el which is attached to the end of a word.

Example sentence:

English/Basic: The Padawan’s lightsaber.

English/Basic: Their (singular, Jedi) lightsaber.

Vocabulary

Dai Bendu: Nev kaitahj kat Padawanel.

Dai Bendu: Nev kaitahj kat karel.

The literal translation of this would be “The lightsaber of the Padawan” and “The lightsaber of them”. When translating a Dai Bendu text casually, you would translate it as “The Padawan’s/Their lightsaber” unless you want to stay closer to the actual text.

Possessive object pronouns

Possessive Object Pronouns refer back to a noun or noun phrase already used, replacing it to avoid repetition: I pick up the lightsaber. It is mine [= it is my lightsaber].

Possessive Object Pronouns of English are mine, yours, his/hers/its, ours, yours, theirs.

Dai Bendu doesn’t have any possessive object pronouns. They are either (1) completely elaborated, (2) dropped altogether if they are understood, (3) replaced with a pronoun, or (4) built via demonstrative pronoun + kat + dative pronoun.

Example sentence:

Anakin has a lightsaber. Ahsoka does not take his.

Vocabulary:

Chio’ah Anakin nak kaitahjak. Im eelah Ahsoka...

1. Are elaborated on: Ahsoka does not take the lightsaber of Anakin/of him

Im eelah Ahsoka nev kaitahjak kat Anakin/karel.

2. Dropped altogether if they are understood: Ahsoka does not take.

Im eelah Ahsoka.

3. Replaced with a pronoun: Ahsoka does not take it.

Im eelah Ahsoka qaak.

4. Built via demonstrative pronoun + kat + dative pronoun: Ahsoka does not take this of Anakin.

Im eelah Ahsoka nev detak kat Anakin.

Chapter Text

1) eno and tama

Dai Bendu has two words for the verb “to be”: eno and tama.

Eno is used when talking about being with a sense of permanence. Characteristics of a given object, origins, names of planets/cities/objects that likely won’t be subject to change.

Enoah Obi-Wan Kenobi nak Jedi.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi.

That’s something that is not about to change. It’s a permanent characteristic. You could also apply this to talking about his height or any other permanent feature.

Tama, on the other hand, is used to talk about non-permanent sense of being. If you talk about where a person is right now, what age they are, an action, how you’re feeling at this moment - all of these are bound to change.

Tamah foh brok.

I am cold (...but if I go inside, I’ll be warm again. I will not remain cold.)

Irregularity

Eno and tama are irregular verbs. While their past and future tense forms are regular, their present tense forms are not.

2) Constructing simple sentences

Generally speaking, Dai Bendu word order always puts the verb first, then the corresponding object.

Example: I am young.

Subject: I (foh)

Verb: am, present tense → eno or tama?
The entire expression describes the state of being young, which is a non-permanent state. Therefore we must use tama.

adjective: young (coveri)

Translation: Tamah foh coveri.

Chapter Text

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force

Im tumi tamah soo’yth, ji xai enoah kai’an.
Im tumi tamah delahm, ji xai enoah leo’yth.
Im tumi tamah bexlyth, ji xai enoah maijah.
Im tumi tamah chiiuth, ji xai enoah aimato.
Im tumi tamah kerai’yth, ji xai enoah Dai.

Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force

Soo’yth, kyii kai’an.
Delahm, kyii leo’yth.
Bexlyth, kyii maijah.
Chiiuth, kyii aimato.
Kerai’yth, kyii Dai.

Life would be easier if we could just leave the code here, but unfortunately this is something the fandom fights and dissects over and over again. Therefore, we will elaborate a little on our word choices here and our interpretation of the code. First things first, we say this openly: This is, of course, yet another interpretation of the code. This is colored by our view on the Jedi and what we assume this code is supposed to mean and serve as. We don’t claim this is The Meaning Of The Code, but the way we understand it in English and then attempt to give it nuance in Dai Bendu. You are, of course, welcome to disregard this or make your own translation of it!

That being said, let’s get started with the purpose of the code. First, something about its history. Research done by the wonderful @ilummoss in this post.

• What is now commonly called the “Jedi Code” originates from a 1987 roleplaying rulebook (Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game)
• The second “yet” version shows up in Kanan: First Blood
• This “code” is a mantra and not a code of conduct/law

Now let’s turn to the purpose of the Code/Mantra! The Jedi Code is one of the first things the younglings learn in the temple, which we assume means that you kind of learn it at the age you also end up learning nursery rhymes. You can see them chant it, repeat it. The purpose of mantras is to help focus/calm your mind. So, what conclusion can we draw from this? This Code is likely supposed to help the children focus on their connection to the Force so it must be an instrument to teach them how to interact with it.

From this, we draw our first conclusion: The second half of each line (peace, knowledge, serenity, harmony) is about the Force. The Force is all of these attributed.

Our second conclusion, derived from this, is that the first half of each line (emotion, ignorance, passion, chaos, death) are the things you bring with you into the Force. In moderation, all of these things are good. Being happy, knowing which knowledge is good for you, being passionate about something you love, knowing life can be a bit chaotic, and death, which is a part of life.

However, when you don’t keep those in check, they overwhelm you, twist and become negative. Contrasting Obi-Wan, who does feel emotion, deeply, and yet doesn’t get overwhelmed, while Anakin does and it ruins him, shows this very neatly. So these aspects can all be wonderful, but you have to be careful not to drag them with you into the Force or use them to access the Force in such a way.

Now, let’s get started on our translation. Let’s start easy with the nouns and do it line by line:

There is no emotion, there is peace. - Im tumi tamah soo’yth, ji xai enoah kai’an

soo’yth, nominalization of the verb soo, which means “to feel” in an emotional sense. kai’an, meaning “inner peace” As in being at peace with yourself e.g. basically the state required for Force Ghosting.

This line is pretty similar to its English equivalent. We wanted to emphasize that peace is not a state of being that’s everywhere or political, but it’s something inside you. The quiet in the eye of the storm.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. - Im tumi tamah delahm, ji xai enoah leo’yth

delahm is an interesting noun as it refers to “ignorance” as well as “the inability to help”. We wondered what kind of background a term such as ignorance has especially in the context of the Jedi valuing knowledge and learning a lot. As such we defined that “ignorance” would correspond more closely to the inability to help. As long as you know something, or aware of where you stand, you are not helpless. leo’yth is the nominalization of the verb leo meaning “to know” and so “knowledge”.

With this line, we really wanted to dig into this idea of knowledge is not just factual knowledge, but also wisdom. And if you act without wisdom, ignorant, perhaps even purposefully so, this is not something to favor. Of course nobody is expected to know everything, but you are supposed to remember, to know, that you can always ask others for help.

There is no passion, there is serenity. - Im tumi tamah bexlyth, ji xai enoah maijah

bexlyth is the nominalization of the verb bexl, which refers to covet/attached love and as the noun leans more into the concept of “passion” and “obsession”. maijah, on the other hand, translates as “serenity, calm, tranquillity”.

Our intention here was to elaborate on the huge dimension behind passion. Passion in and of itself is nothing bad, but it can be if it is done out of obsession. When considering that this mantra is used to interact with the Force, it might also demand that you leave every other thought behind and focus only on the Force.

There is no chaos, there is harmony. - Im tumi tamah chiiuth, ji xai enoah aimato

chiiuth means “chaos, destruction, unrest” where aimato is “harmony” and “cosmic balance”. Cosmic balance is here the state which we assume the Jedi want to achieve in the entire galaxy. When canon speaks of “there needs to be balance”, this is it.

Here we have chaos as everything that disrupts the harmony. Of course there is something such as good chaos, it would be quite boring if every day were the same, stagnant, but in this case we decide that chaos and destruction does not exist negatively in the Force. There are plants that require forest fires before they can sprout - the natural circle of life includes chaos and destruction, but only ever in a way that plays in harmony with its other parts, rebirth and healing.

There is no death, there is the Force - Im tumi tamah kerai’yth, ji xai enoah Dai

kerai’yth is the nominalization of the verb kerai, which means “to die”. This line is pretty much the same as the original version.

Now that we’ve got all the vocabulary done, let’s talk a bit about grammar. We’ll start with the first part of each sentence Im tumi tamah.

tamah is the present tense form of the temporary form of “to be”. We chose to use this instead of “enoah” to show that these states of being are temporary and not, like the Force and its attributes, eternal.

A little opposed to this is our choice of the consequential marker tumi. tumi marks a state of something that is currently happening and will continue to happen in the future. This is used mostly for statements of being. As you can see, this is in contrast to our choice of tamah, but the reason for that is hidden in our negation particle im.

Im, in this case, negates the whole expression. tumi tamah gives the speaker the understanding that something temporary is the current state of being, when negating this entire sentence, we get the translation that this temporary experience is not your new and eternal state of being.

Which brings us to the differences in syntax and overall translation. In the structure of the original Basic sentence, the negation only has scope over the noun. In There is no chaos, the “no” negates only “chaos”. The literal translation of the Dai Bendu version would be more along the lines of “Not is there any state of chaos”, which, of course, is a lot more wordy.

Now, on the flip side, we have there is. In Dai Bendu, we have ji xai enoah. ji means “but”. We inserted this preposition here to highlight the contrast and negation. The first half of each statement says what there is not, but that doesn’t mean you are lost because in the Force, you will find the other.

enoah is our eternal/permanent form of “to be”. The Force is eternal, it will forever be all these attributes the Jedi give to it. xai is our Force-influenced marker. It represents that an action took place because the Force destined it to be, it is “Force-willed” if you want. This makes the entire sentence a bit self-referential and implies that this state is eternal because the Force is and because the Force wants it to be. The Jedi believe singularly in the Light side of the Force and see the Dark as a corruption and poisoning of it. Therefore, the Force strives for peace, knowledge, serenity, harmony as much as it embodies it.

Now that we have discussed both statements, we can put together a full literal translation:

There is no emotion, there is peace turns into Not is there a state of emotion, but the Force wills there to be peace within itself. 

And that is, all in all, a pretty sweet mantra to hold onto.

Now! For some explanation on the shortened version. We know that both versions existed during the prequels at the same time, which suggests two things: either they were both passed on independently/complementary, or they are identical in meaning.

Emotion, yet peace - Soo’yth, kyii kai’an

The word “yet” is very interesting because its meaning is inherently “despite that/but/even though”, which means that this shortened form of the mantra can actually be read identically to the long one. By striking the negation out of the sentence, you need a preposition with that inherent negative meaning, which is something “yet” is capable of!

So in our reading of this shortened mantra, it’s identical to the long one, but given how many syllables the long one has, it’s no wonder they have the Initiates recite the short one. So there is no secret “oh no, the Jedi don’t acknowledge emotions so we need this updated better version of the code!” hidden away here.

Chapter Text

Let’s talk about the perception of time in Dai Bendu. Various cultures have different views on time! You can see that in the various phrasings we use. Just consider the saying “Monday came too soon”. It assumes that time is something that can move towards us, while “I can’t believe we arrived in February already” assumes you move towards time. The anchoring is different, and so is the placement in time. English, being written and read left to right, assumes the past is towards the left and behind us, while the future is right and ahead of us. Other cultures, other writing systems, work differently. All of this shapes your understanding of time. [ Further Reading/Listening ]

So what does Dai Bendu do?

Our writing system is left to right, but rather than thinking of time as something behind or in front of us, Dai Bendu thinks in terms of “above” and “below”. Our preposition “zana” refers to “before” when telling the time, but “below, under, beneath, behind” when talking about a place.

Our preposition “nepa” refers to “after” when telling the time, but to “above, over, on top” when talking about a place. This means that both are anchored to the present. The present is the middle, the verge of past and future. This concept of time is something we drew from this little dialogue:

Obi-Wan: But Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future.
Qui-Gon Jinn: But not at the expense of the moment.

Your past is your foundation and therefore below you. You stand on it and you can’t just erase it. You won’t stay the same person, but your past will always shape you and contribute to the person you are in the present. The future is above you, something in reach and you have to be mindful of, but you can’t lose sight of the present. The future in Dai Bendu is still something more tangible than the sense of the future we in the real world have. This is largely due to the fact that visions, and therefore a more concrete perception of the future, exist.

This orientation towards the future is also present in our tenses. We have the Mystic Future, which is used to describe visions. While, of course, visions can also be of the past or present, they appear to be more future aligned in general. Our Consequential Aspect is highly future-orientated as it describes the consequences your actions are bound to have. Our Tense Impossible, on the other hand, highlights the relationship every other time has with the past. It describes a time that “never was/is/will be”, which means it takes a look from a certain standpoint in time that acts as your foundation, and from there on draws conclusions about the future.

What practical consequences does this have?

For one, you’d draw a timeline from the bottom to the top of a page. The bottom being the past dates and the future dates being at the top. Dates are written year/month/day and time as hour/minute/second.

Chapter Text

Pecha, everyone!

Welcome to your first Dai Bendu lesson! We will start this introductory lesson the same way most language classes begin theirs: Introductions.

Topics

• Greeting words
• Introducing yourself

Greeting Words

Dai Bendu has four greeting expressions: pecha, agisti, jesara, je shetorpai

1. pecha: This is the general, formal greeting. A simple “hello” you can use for everyone. It is also used to indicate that you are greeting each other as friends and setting all ranks aside. This is also the greeting you’d most commonly use outside the Order.
2. agisti: This is a greeting between equals, friends, family. This is the most common greeting word you’d use to other Order members.
3. jesara: This is the most formal and respectful greeting. A Padawan greets their Master with jesara, any member of the Order would start a Council meeting with this greeting. 
4. je shetorpai: This greeting is used in the middle of a battlefield or a mission. A cheeky Padawan in a hurry might also yell it at their Master as they rush past. This greeting means that you don’t have any time to talk.

Introducing yourself

Standard introductions include a greeting, which may or may not be accompanied by a bow, and stating your name, age, and where you are from. For simplicity’s sake, we will only deal with the pronouns “foh” (1st person singular, I) and “keel” (second person singular, you) in this explanation.

Name

To state your name, you say: Tumi mika’ah [name].

While this means “My name is ….” it actually translates to “[name] is being called” so you don’t have a pronoun in the sentence, nor a possessive.

Example: Tumi mika’ah Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Translations: Obi-Wan Kenobi is being called.

To ask for somebody’s name, you say: Tumi mikah’ah keel nak det?

Age

To state your age, you say: Tumi hevelah [number] ko.

It means “I am holding [number] years”, or, simplified, means “I am [number] years old.” If you want to specify the number system you’re using, you attach that behind the “ko”.

Example: Tumi hevelah ahlntonjil ko kat Coruscant.

Translation: I am 20 Coruscant years old.

To ask for somebody’s age, you say: Tumi hevelah keel ino naki rablisak?

It basically means “What years do you hold?” or, “how old are you?”.

Origin

After you state your name and age, a conversation usually continues in a manner of “oh, so where are you from?” Of course, “Where are you from” is bound to be a very loaded question in the Star Wars universe, even more so than it is here on Earth— are you asking where their family is from? Where they grew up? The place they currently consider home? And what about children born on space ships?

In Dai Bendu, you have three possible ways of asking that question:

1) Tolnah keel kat krii?

This question denounces the place you are currently from, where you are living right now.

The transliteration of it would be “You come/origin/stem of where?”

Example:

Obi-Wan: Tolnah keel kat krii?
Ahsoka: Tolnah foh kat Coruscantel.

Translation:

Obi-Wan: Where are you from?
Ahsoka: I am from Coruscant.

In the times before the centralization on Coruscant, if Jedi asked each other this question, they were definitely inquiring what temple they were from.

2) Tolnah keel veshah krii?

This question asks what family you are from or, in an academic/philosophic/religious setting, what school of thought you are from. It translates more closely to “Which group do you belong to?”

Example:

Cere: Tolnah keel veshah krii?
Cal: Tolnah foh vesha Jedi’el.

Translation:

Cere: Which group do you belong to?
Cal: I come from the Jedi.

3)  Tolnah keel gon krii?

This question actually asks in what place you were born! And therefore translates more to something along the lines of “Where were you born?”

Ahsoka: Tolnah keel gon krii?
Anakin: Tolnah foh gon nak yorak.

Translation:

Ahsoka: Where were you born?
Anakin: I was born on a ship.

CAREFUL: kat and veshah both use dative case and the -el ending while gon uses the accusative case and -ak ending!

Given these three questions, you also can’t hide your space-racism behind a question such as “But where are you really from?” because it becomes immediately obvious if you use an ill-fitting preposition.

Conversation

So, let’s now try our hands at a conversation! Let’s say, Obi-Wan is letting his new Padawan meet his friends!

Anakin: Jesara!

Quinlan: Pecha, Padawan. Tumi mikah’ah Quinlan ru keel?

Anakin: Tumi mikah’ah Anakin Skywalker ru tamah foh Padawan kat Obi-Wan. Tolnah keel gon krii?

Quinlan: Tolnah foh gon Kiffu’ak.

Summary/Useful sentences

Greeting

Pecha / Agisti / Jesara / [ je shetorpai ]

Names

Asking for a name: Tumi mikah’ah keel nak det?

Stating your own name: Tumi mika’ah [name].

Age

Asking for someone’s age: Tumi hevelah keel ino naki rablisak?

Stating your own age: Tumi hevelah [number] ko.

Origin

Asking where someone lives: Tolnah keel kat krii?

Stating where you live: Tolnah foh kat [place, dative case].

Asking what family/group/school of thought someone is from: Tolnah keel veshah krii?

Stating what group you belong tol: Tolnah foh vesha [group, dative place].

Asking where someone was born: Tolnah keel gon krii?

Stating where you were born: Tolnah foh gon [place, accusative place].

Chapter Text

So very early into this project, loosingletters and I (ghostwriter) watched The Phantom Menace together, and when Qui-Gon died, we looked at each other and were like “We can make this way sadder in translation, can’t we?” 

And so off we went, with that goal in mind. 

Because we went into this thinking “can we improve this interaction via language/translation?”  we need to first first explain why we don’t love Qui-Gon’s last words in canon, to then explain why we made the changes that we did.

The reasons are as follows:

• Qui-Gon’s last words have nothing to do with Obi-Wan, the person he is saying goodbye to.
• His last words being an order about Anakin left a weird taste in our mouths
• We wanted this to feel more intimate and more emotional. 

So, we started with ways we could change the connotation of the words being used. We came at it from a lens of assuming that the dialogue was a classic “bad translation” of what was actually said; as in, someone translated the literal meanings of the words into English, and lost a lot of the social meanings that the words might have in their original contexts. 

Here are Qui-Gon’s original last words, in canon:

Obi-Wan: Master! Master!
Qui-Gon: It’s too late. It’s too…
Obi-Wan: No!
Qui-Gon: Obi-Wan, promise...promise me you'll train the boy
Obi-Wan: Yes, Master
Qui-Gon: He is the chosen one...he will...bring balance...train him!

(Sidenote: upon actually looking up the dialogue, we were honestly shocked by how, like. Bare bones it is. And how pretty much all the emotion of that scene comes only from Neeson and McGregor acting their hearts out. So, kudos.)

When looking at this dialogue, we singled out the following things as points we could build on: 

• Jedi cultural values regarding teaching (which we all have a lot of Feelings about)
• The word “promise”
• The whole idea of balance 

And then we proceeded to go to town. 

The Dai Bendu translation of this dialogue is as follows:

Obi-Wan: Jaieh! Jaieh!
Qui-Gon: Im enoh...nev forpai paikazah
Obi-Wan: Shet.
Qui-Gon: Obi-Wan, ikio… ikio fehl paipadenji keel nev paqorak.
Obi-Wan: Haj dai, Jaieh.
Qui-Gon: Enoah kar... daisha. Pauji... kar aimato’ak. Paden... karak.

Firstly, the things we didn’t change, ie: pretty much all of Obi-Wan’s dialogue.

Obi-Wan says, in order, “Master, Master!” (though he uses the Jedi-specific word for it, which also translates to “teacher”), “No.” and “Yes, Master,” just like in the original script. The most significant thing here is that the Dai Bendu word for “Yes” directly translates to “Force-Wills,” which could be read as some unintentional, ouchy subtext that both implies that Obi-Wan is agreeing with Qui-Gon’s point about Anakin being the Chosen One as a final act of comfort (because he’s expressed doubt about the possibility before), as well as conceding to both himself, Qui-Gon, and the universe that the Force has willed his Master’s death. 

Next, the things that changed from the script mostly as a symptom of the ways that Dai Bendu is different from English/Basic. For instance, Qui-Gon refers to Anakin as “the child” rather than “the boy,” because Dai Bendu does not express gender in that way. Instead of saying “it’s too late,” a more word-for-word direct translation of “Im enoh nev forpai paikazah” would be “no time is left,” which both lines up with how we imagine time works in Dai Bendu ( link here ), and is more natural to the way Dai Bendu handles sentence structure (“it’s too late” is a very English sentence construction). 

And now we get to the meaning changes. Other than changing the structure, “im enoh nev forpai paikazah” also adds “pai,” our consequential prefix, to “kazah,” which is the present-tense of the verb “kaza” or “to leave.” That makes the sentence mean something like “no time is left, and because of that the future has changed.” This is essentially Qui-Gon admitting to both himself and to Obi-Wan that his death is going to change, at the very least, Obi-Wan’s future forever, and also the future of the entire universe (though whether or not Qui-Gon knows this last part, in a Force-saturated moment right before death, is unclear in both the original version and our version). 

Qui-Gon’s next line is “Obi-Wan, ikio… ikio fehl paipadenji keel nev paqorak.” Again, we have the consequential prefix, this time attached to “paden,” which means “to guide/to teach,” here in the future tense. The implication of that being something like “teach him and it will alter the future.” Adding the consequential prefix to something which is already in the future tense is considered repetitive — comparable to saying something like “it is so enormously big” in English. A native speaker making the choice to add it here illustrates a conscious emphasis. Qui-Gon is really trying to express how important he thinks teaching Anakin is. 

We also have a lot of Thoughts and Feelings about the Jedi as a people who are dedicated to teaching as a cultural value. On top of being archivists and having/keeping a vast collection of knowledge, Jedi do pretty much nothing but study/learn their entire lives. They are dedicated diplomats and so on, but outside of that they seem to want to foster understanding and that in-and-of itself is always a lesson. In TCW, for instance, everything is a teachable moment for someone. The fact that so much careful consideration is put into who you pick as your Padawan, and that you retain a deep connection to them even when the apprenticeship is over, shows that this connection and this act of teaching is immensely important. It is considered a standard part of each Jedi’s life to step into that teaching role at least once — nearly every Jedi takes on at least one apprentice. If you take Obi-Wan as an example, he spent half his time in the PT being a student, and then the other half being a teacher. So here, Qui-Gon is taking one of their culture’s most important values and handing it to Obi-Wan. 

Then we have the word for “promise” we used, “ikio.” While we have a standard word for promise, “aima,” the word that Qui-Gon uses here instead is one with more cultural meaning. “Ikio” refers to a very specific kind of promise, something like “promise me because you love me,” or “promise me because I trust you above all.”  The word dates back to the Jedi-Sith schism, where it was used as an oath to state that you trust this person to take your lightsaber and bring it back to your home temple, should you die in battle.

Which means that, holistically, the line “Obi-Wan, ikio… ikio fehl paipadenji keel nev paqorak” both places the highest amount of trust possible in Obi-Wan’s hands, while also stating that Qui-Gon believes him ready  of carrying out one of their most culturally important values, and trusts him implicitly to carry that out. 

Finally, the line “Enoah kar... daisha. Pauji... kar aimato’ak. Paden... karak.” Some of this is, again, just us having words in Dai Bendu which Basic doesn’t have. “Daisha” is the word for Chosen One, the one referred to as such specifically to that old prophecy Qui-Gon likes so much. It’s a word that all Jedi would be familiar with, but usually in the context of folk tales. It’s like calling someone “The Once and Future King.” (Which also makes Qui-Gon talking to the Council way funnier — “hey guys, I found King Arthur!” “what the fuck??”). Qui-Gon also uses the third person Jedi/in-community pronouns when referring to Anakin, showing that he already thinks of this kid as a Jedi. 

Then there is the concept of “aimato,” here in the accusative case as “aimato’ak.” Aimato is the word for “cosmic balance,” which is both a very important idea in Jedi philosophy, and also a very big and abstract concept. And like any other big and abstract concept which has a large impact on lives and culture, like Love or Brotherhood or Democracy or God, it’s something that individual people and individual Jedi have different conceptions of and ideas about. This is a culture of warrior-philosophers — pretty much everyone has a slightly different theory as to what aimato/”cosmic balance” is supposed to mean and what it will look like when it is achieved, or if it’s possible to achieve, from "it means that one day the Force shows itself to all people" to "it's about finding balance within only yourself" to "it means that evil will finally stand down" to "it means that all who strive for it will achieve peace" to "it's in tiny everyday moments." People sit around and debate this for hours. 

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan deeply disagree on it’s definition, given their specialties in the Living vs. Unifying Force, and have essentially had an ongoing debate about it for years. It’s an old, comfortable argument both of them know that neither is ever going to win. They could both probably recite the other’s points in their sleep. However, it’s something they end up going back to every time they have a spare moment with nothing else to do. 

Qui-Gon bringing it up here is not only referring to something very important in their culture, it’s almost like referencing an old, treasured inside joke between him and his student, which is something Obi-Wan would pick up on right away. 

So, to summarize; we attempted to modify this very... Anakin-focused last dialogue, and instead make it about Qui-Gon telling Obi-Wan he trusts him above all, specifically to teach (which, again, with Jedi and their teaching focused culture is a HUGE thing) and to continue their discussions and keep their traditions going with this child.

It’s also a fun thought experiment in translation studies — sometimes, things really can get lost in a one-for-one translation of something, when cultural and collaborative meaning aren’t considered and translated accordingly. 

Thank you for reading!

Chapter Text

Mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, allowing the speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying e.g. whether it is an order, a wish, a suggestion. Dai Bendu has two ways of expressing moods. While speaking, they are not stated at all as the information the modal expresses is transferred via the Force. However, as such is impossible to gather in writing, there are a number of soo-terms, or feel-terms that are used in writing to indicate the mood.

(Crechèmasters also say them out loud to teach them to the children. So if you catch a Jedi saying them out loud, they’ve likely spent some time talking to toddlers. It’s basically the Jedi equivalent of telling your friends to say “bye-bye” to the bus driving by.)

Example Speech:

Obi-Wan, projecting imperative mood: Kanah, Anakin!
Obi-Wan: Run, Anakin!

Example Writing:

Obi-Wan a’ainru: Sokeh kanah, Anakin!
Obi-Wan said: Run, Anakin!

Dai Bendu has 7 moods we have in the real world. The words for those are derived from the verb soo, to feel.

1. sotet: habitual

Repeated, habitual actions: “I always think about Star Wars.”

Example: Sotet kanah foh.
Translation: I always run.

The habitual is also used when detailing schedules, such as timetables, and describes actions that happen often.

In sentences where you’d use always/often in English, are done with habitual mood in Dai Bendu. Clauses such as “Every morning” would also be done with habitual.

2. sokeh: imperative

Orders: “Read this explanation!”

Example: Sokeh kanah!
Translation: Run!

Imperative mood is primarily used for orders. However, it is also a stand in for the expression “have to”. Thus sentences such as “sokeh wanah foh” would translate to “I have to learn” but literally mean “(imperative) I learn”. This mood is also quite often used with the Force-Influenced to imply that it is imperative that you learn, and also the Fore wishes you to.

3. sotar: conditional

Describes events depending on one another: “I would fight with a lightsaber.”

Example: Sotar kanah foh.
Translation: I would run.

The conditional mood expresses a proposition whose validity is dependent on some condition, possibly counterfactual. What is called the English conditional mood (or just the conditional) is formed using the modal verb “would” in combination with the bare infinitive of the following verb.

4. soser: necessitative

Necessary actions: “I should listen to my Master.”

Example: Soser kanah foh.
Translation: I should run.

The necessitative expresses necessary actions just as much as a sense of duty. It is a much softer “have to” than the imperative and implies a more moral need to enforce a certain action. Using the necessitative mood with the Force-influenced tense adds even more emphasis to the fact that this act was the will of the Force.

In the Kenobi show, the Grand Inquisitor says “Jedi cannot help what they are. Their compassion leaves a trail. The Jedi code is like an itch. They cannot help it.”

This moral obligation to help follows what the necessitative tries to express. It’s not as much an order, nobody is forcing them to help anyone, as it is something they feel necessary in their hearts.

5. sobi: optative

Wishes and hopes: “I hope this mission is over soon.”

Example: Sobi kanah keel.
Translation: I hope you run / Hopefully, you are running.

The optative expresses wishes, hopes, and dreams for the future. It can also be used to indicate non-pressing goals as opposed to the imperative 1st person. Imagine the difference between someone being relaxed and saying “oh, I hope I pass this exam” and somebody utterly stressed saying “I have to pass this exam.”

6. somu: approximative

Guesses and approximations: “It looks like they’re trying a new lightsaber form.”

Example: Somu kanah keel.
Translation: It looks like you are running.

Approximate expresses guesses and thus replaces “it looks/seems/appears like” in a given sentence. This is the kind of mood that would show up a lot in academic writing where you cannot just state something and claim it as fact without proving it.

7. sona: subjunctive

Unlikely events: “Were the Senate any quicker…”

Example: Sona kanah keel.
Translation: Were you running...

The subjunctive is used to express hypothetical, unreal situations. Additionally, it can also be used to express doubt. Thus sona kanah keel could also be read as “I doubt you ran”.

As you can see, this is only Part 1 of Dai Bendu moods. This is largely because we wanted to get a solid grip of the seven moods above before we continue.

“Wait, there’s more?” you ask.

And yeah, there is.

We decided that moods follow emotions usually conveyed in the Force because we didn’t just want to create a conlang for a religious order, we wanted to create a language for people that perceive the world in a manner that is completely foreign to us. We don’t have the Force – no matter how fun that would be – so we can only guess at how having such power, such empathy, at your fingertips would influence (non-)verbal communication. Thus we decided that there are probably also moods that lean towards this aspect that we can’t grasp. Hence needing much more time to figure those out.

Additionally, from a diachronic perspectives, Dai Bendu moods changed quite regularly before their last grammar reform as they are tied to emotional states, how the Force is perceived, and thus philosophy. The consequential tense for example used to be the mood sopai, but eventually turned into a tense around the time that moods stopped being spelled out in speaking.

Chapter Text

Dai Bendu has 11 pronouns. Broadly speaking, we differentiate between singular and plural in first, second, and third person.

The singular pronouns are: foh, keel, kar, tep, and qa. In the singular, the third person pronouns kar, tep, and qa are particularly interesting. kar is reserved only for people that the speaker sees as Jedi, or, more appropriately, as family members. Every other sentient being is referred to as tep while non-sentient objects fall under qa.

In the plural, we have boteh, kodaih, keel, kareh, tepet, and qaal. While the third person pronouns kareh, tepet, and qaal follow the same pattern as their singular counterparts, boteh and kodaih are a special case. While the first person singular foh (I) does not differentiate between whether the speaker is a Jedi or not, the plurals do. boteh is the general “we”, referring to the speaker and the group of people they belong to. Kodaih, however, immediately means “we, a group of Jedi”. It is used when the speaker wants to highlight that the given action is supported by the community.

Giinaaji boteh keelel means “We will follow you” and simply states the act of a group following the addressee. 

Giinaaji kodaih keelel means “We will follow you because we, a group that you are a part of, are Jedi and thus we support each other”. The emphasis of kodaih is therefore on the support an individual receives through the Order.

So what information do Dai Bendu pronouns contain?

1. number
2. speaker’s perception of a third party
3. speaker’s perception their own status

Let’s look at kodaih again.

1. number: first person plural, ”we”, a group that consists of the speaker and at least one more person
2. speaker’s perception of a third party: the speaker considers the addressee to be a part of their family
3. speaker’s perception their own status: the speaker considers themselves to be a Jedi and belong to that family

As you can see, kodaih does encode plenty of information. What it, or the third person singular and plural pronouns do not contain, is a marking for gender as we conceptualize it in many languages. Further elaborations on that later. First, we will explain why we decided to go with pronouns based on community. Technically speaking, you can make pronouns based on any value system. The purpose of pronouns is, simplified, giving the speaker the ability to talk about another person or object without directly naming it. So when we looked at the Jedi, we asked ourselves what they would value so much they’d use it to refer to others/themselves. “Community” was the first thing that came to mind. Just look at these few examples from canon.

From the Ahsoka novel:

She was alone, something she was never meant to be. Her people were tribal, blood and bond, and her ability to use the Force gave her a galaxy of brethren from all species. Even after she left the Jedi Temple, she could feel the others when she wanted to -  the ebb and flow of them in the Force around her.

Quinlan in Dark Disciple:

Everyone knew him [in the Temple] - even now, when he was often away for months, sometimes seven a year, at a stretch. Vos grinned happily at seeing familiar faces and exchanges so many hugs, claps on the back, and handshakes that he was concerned he might be-

The shower was welcome, the meal in the group dining hall even more so. All Jedi Padawans began their training at young ages, with little or no recollection of their families. Vos, brought to the Temple even younger than most, felt that he had hundreds of brothers and sisters, and it seemed that whenever he went into the dining hall he ran into at least half of them.
It was wonderful.

But it made him happy to see his companions, to meet the overly solemn Padawans and squirmy-puppy younglings, and it was with reluctance that he left to go on his next assignments.

Shaak Ti in The Clone Wars S3E1:

I am a Jedi, where the individual and the group are one and the same, much like you clones.

Mace Windu in Jedi of the Republic #5

It is our duty to help him. Bring him back to the light. That is the doctrine I adhere to.

The High Republic #1

Whenever you feel alone… whenever darkness closes in… hear our signal and know that the Force is with you. That we are with you.

Obi-Wan & Anakin comic

Yes. The Republic did not come here because of Obi-Wan Kenobi. They are here because a Jedi called. Being a Jedi is not just about power, or lightsabers, or even skill with the Force. It is about connection, being part of something bigger. I am stronger as part of the Jedi Order than I could ever be alone.

In The Clone Wars S5E6 “The Gathering” we see that the younglings have to work together to build their lightsabers. Teaching, which the Jedi value quite highly, is a communal activity. Grievous uses Eeth Koth to lure the others to come to him.

This sense of community is also mirrored in the use of the singular and plural second person pronoun keel. The reason why Dai Bendu has only one word for those two pronouns is highlighting the role a single person plays in a community. As a culture that abhors leaving people without support, and has made it their very mission to improve the galaxy, the idea of a person being alone is absolutely terrible. Their grammar reflects that. Addressing a singular you also always means addressing the plural you, the community they stem from. This is also something the Jedi practice themselves. In Rogue Planet, after Anakin got into trouble, it is not just him that has to attend a disciplinary hearing but Obi-Wan too.

Mace was unrelenting. "I ask again, what was your error?"

"I brought shame upon the order and the Temple," Anakin responded quickly now, his voice high and soft.

"That is hardly precise. Again, your error?"

"To break the laws of the municipality, and. . and..."

"No!" Mace declared, and his smile vanished, replaced by a stern expression, like the dark underside of a cloud heretofore painted by sun. Anakin flinched.

 "Obi-Wan, explain to your Padawan his error. It does, after all, arise from the same roots as your own." Mace regarded Obi-Wan with a lifted brow.

Obi-Wan considered this intently for a long moment before answering. Nobody tried to rush him. Inner truth was a perilous journey, even for a Jedi.

"I see it," he said. "We both want certainty."

Anakin stared at his master with a puzzled frown.

"Explain to us all how you have failed your Padawan," Mace said, gently enough, considering the turnabout in the proceedings.

"He and I are far too young for the luxury of certainty," Obi-Wan began. "Our experience is insufficient to earn us even momentary peace. As well, I have been more concerned with his growth than my own, distracted by his obvious flaws, rather than using his mirror to guide me, so that I may in turn guide him."

Your actions and the way you behave reflect upon your entire community as they brought you up and raised.

From Power of the Jedi Sourcebook

"When a Jedi behaves badly in public, an observer might think, 'If this Jedi is a representative of the whole Order, then plainly no Jedi is worth respect.' On meeting a second Jedi, who behaves better than the first, that same person might think, 'Does this say that half the Jedi are good, and half bad?' On meeting a third Jedi, who behaves as well as the second, the person thinks, 'Was the first Jedi an exception, then?' In this way, only by the good behavior of several Jedi can the public be certain that the poor behavior of one Jedi was unusual. Thus, it takes many Jedi to undo the mistakes of one."

When considering all these passionate notes, it only seemed appropriate to us that the value system for our pronouns is community based to give the Jedi a chance to express how much they love their Order via grammar. Encoding information about social categories into pronouns is also nothing new and can be found in various languages across language families.

Examples of such are the T-V distinction or the use of honorifics.

On a last note, we want to clear up some confusion about gender and the fact that Dai Bendu is not a gendered language.

First of all: what do we mean by gender?

In linguistics, there is grammatical gender of male/female/neutral (such as “der Baum” the tree being male in German) and then there is social gender. There are various degrees to which a language can incorporate social gender. German, for example, uses gendered suffixes for adjectives. So if a person identifies as female, you can tell that by the adjectives used to describe them. Hebrew encodes gender into its verbs. English does neither (excluding the blond/blonde debate), but it does have male, female and gender neutral pronouns (he/she/them).

Now, nowadays, we are much looser in our perspective on pronouns and gender. Just because somebody uses she/her, doesn’t mean they identify as female. Our understanding of the gender spectrum is steadily growing to the point where language can’t quite keep up. (loosingletters personally identifies as a demiboy and uses he/him and xe/xem pronouns, the latter because xe is queer and honestly the sound just kind of slaps; ghostwriter is a gnc woman and uses she/they pronouns despite not identifying as nb).

Regardless, if we have a language that differentiates social gender in some way, we tend to associate pronouns with the idea that they give us some information on how the other person identifies.

Dai Bendu does not encode social gender. Why?

Look at Earth’s cultures and different perceptions on gender and now multiply that by the thousands. Space is bound to have so many species/planet specific ideas on gender, you can’t keep up. And the Jedi Order has always been an Order of diversity. Many species, many genders. Giving them a set of gendered pronouns that would fit everyone is just laughable. If you want to include gendered personal pronouns, they’d most likely use that of their birth culture/species.

But that also raises the question, is it necessary to encode social gender in pronouns? The answer is no, and thus we decided against encoding social gender in Dai Bendu. This article on (non)-gendered pronouns is a great aid in understanding the issues of gendered pronouns. Here is the Wikipedia article on gender-neutral languages.