Star Wars fans likely know why Yoda speaks backwards English. George Lucas expanded that canon with a nifty tidbit: the weird language was specifically developed for children.
George Lucas set the record straight on one of Star Wars' heated debates: the origin of Yoda's "unique" language. That's now likely steeped in heavy lore, but Lucas said the reason was totally pragmatic, and as it turned out, effective. "If you speak regular English, people won't listen that much," he explained (per Variety). "But if [Yoda] had an accent, or it's really hard to understand what he's saying, they focus on what he's saying." Now, this is common knowledge among die-hard Star Wars fans, but Lucas added that he did that for a specific audience.
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"He was basically the philosopher of [The Empire Strikes Back]," he continued. "I had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen — especially 12-year-olds." Yoda debuted in the film and stole every scene he was in, he spoke sparingly and with impact. His wise words have since been taken as real-world advice; the countless memes made sure of that. Lucas previously expounded on the decision, asserting he wanted Yoda to sound alien but familiar.
'Designed To Make You Focus On The Boring Philosophical Lessons'
"Mostly we had these strange languages and voices that were created out of foreign languages," The Star Wars Archives revealed in a quote (per CBR). "I didn't want to go through a whole movie where everybody is reading subtitles. He had a lot of dialogue. So, I had to come up with a language that was alien, but still understandable. So, I reversed everything around. The language was designed to make you focus on the boring, philosophical lessons." It also helped that Yoda often spoke in short sentences; fans have since repurposed timeless adages to Yoda-speak, and there's even an English-to-Yoda translator to help with that.
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Fun fact: one Star Wars story proved Yoda doesn't really talk like that. In Yoda #7, he recounted his early adventures, which included a covert mission with Anakin to nip an uprising in the bud. In his account, Yoda disguised himself before meeting his informant: he stood on a droid and threw on a Jedi Robe, so he looked much taller. While talking to the informant, he also spoke plain English to keep his cover; first-time readers of the comic didn't know it was Yoda until he took off the robe and told the droid to plot their return trip to Coruscant.
Frank Oz, the actor who fleshed out Yoda's voice, was asked if he's had enough of the impressions. "No, I'm used to it," he told The Guardian in 2021. "But people don't understand, anyone can do a voice. It's not the voice – it's the soul." He also confirmed that Lucas let him have free rein with the syntax. "I was just looking at the original script of The Empire Strikes Back the other day and there was a bit of that odd syntax in it, but also it had Yoda speaking very colloquially," he mused. "So I said to George, 'Can I do the whole thing like this?' And he said: 'Sure!' It just felt so right."
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back is streaming on Disney+.
Source: Variety, The Guardian
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Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
PG
AdventureAction
Science Fiction8
10
- Release Date
- May 20, 1980
- Runtime
- 124 minutes
- Director
- Irvin Kershner
Cast
-
Mark Hamill
Luke Skywalker
-
Harrison Ford
Han Solo
WHERE TO WATCH
Streaming
RENT
BUY
After the Rebels are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
