Huttese is a Conlang, or "artificial language," spoken by the Hutts and other inhabitants of the planet Tatooine in the Star Wars universe. Unlike Klingon or Elvish, Huttese is not a fully developed fictional language. This means that you have a lot of freedom with grammar and syntax! Learn a few basic Huttese words and phrases if you want to use them in casual conversation with other fans. If you want to take a closer look at Huttese, check out some of the many resources available to people interested in artificial languages.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Learn Huttese Words and Phrases
Step 1. Learn some Huttese greetings
Greetings are some of the most useful words in any language, including Huttese. Look at an online Huttese dictionary or word list and pick up a couple of the helpful greetings and more, such as:
- achuta ("hello")
- bo shuda ("greetings")
- chowbaso ("welcome")
- Gooddé da lodia! ("Good Morning!")
- mee jewz ku ("goodbye")
Step 2. Memorize words for friends and foes
Learning how to refer to yourself and other people (or droids or alien lifeforms) is also a key to mastering any language. Get familiar with some pronouns and learn some nouns for the types of beings you are likely to comment on in Huttese.
- Known Huttese pronouns are jee ("I / me"), jee-jee ("we / us"), chuba ("you") and cheekta ("her -from her").
- You may also find useful words like bukee ("boy"), fotoo ("partner"), cheeka ("woman"), nek ("man"), ulwan ("smuggler"), murishani ("bounty hunter") and jeedai ("Jedi").
- You can refer to a friend as ma pateessa ("my friend"), while an enemy could be wermo ("fool"), sleemo ("rogue"), or peedunkey ("ruffian").
Step 3. Get familiar with a couple of common names
The words for places and things are also very useful. Know some names that might come up in a daily conversation on Tatooine, like:
- see’ybark (“sailing barge”)
- blasto ("weapon" or "dynamite")
- e’nachu ("food")
- gopptula ("rescue")
- planeeto ("planet")
Step 4. Master some basic verbs
In addition to the simpler verbs (such as for “ser / estar”), you will need words to express a variety of actions. Learn more Huttese verbs, like:
- boska ("search" or "go")
- stuka ("to see")
- dwana ("to sell")
- cheeska ("to deceive")
- winkee ("to sleep")
Step 5. Get up to speed with some adjectives
Huttese is an expressive language with many colorful descriptors. You will get the most out of Huttese if you have a rich vocabulary of adjectives. For instance:
- gusha ("lucky")
- lapti ("luxurious")
- shado ("fast")
- dopa-meeky ("double crossover")
- goola ("bad")
- grancha ("big")
- azalus ("dangerous")
Step 6. Learn other useful words
Once you have a basic vocabulary, you can build sentences using helper words like conjunctions, prepositions, imperatives, questions, articles, and participles. Some extra useful words in Huttese include:
- an ("and")
- che ("for")
- ta ("the, the, the, the")
- du ("one")
- coo ("who / what or which"), coo sa ("who is …?" or "which is …?")
- choy ("what")
- jopay ("when")
- konchee ("where")
- tagwa ("yes")
- nobata ("no")
- nenoleeya ("out")
- noleeya ("in, within")
- hagwa ("no")
Step 7. Pick some Huttese phrases
Huttese can help you when you want to greet a Star Wars fan, close a Tatooine-style business deal, or join in on some lighthearted prank. You can find a list of Huttese phrases broken down by category on this page: https://www.nerdgirlarmy.com/2011/02/speak-in-huttese-language-of-jabba-hut.html. Some helpful phrases include:
- Achute, my pee kasa Susan. ("Hello, my name is Susan.")
- Hi chuba na daga? ("What do you want?")
- Bargon wan chee kospah. ("There will be no deal.")
- Bona nai kachu. ("Now you're in trouble!")
Step 8. Learn the counting system in Huttese
Since the Hutts only have 4 fingers on each hand, they count in base 8 instead of base 10. This means that they only use the digits 0 to 7, with 8 being the equivalent of our 10. This is very useful to know if you are going to negotiate the ransom price of your favorite dopa-maskey ulwan (fake smuggler) chuba doompa. The known numbers in Huttese are:
- bo (1)
- dopa (2)
- duba (3)
- fwanna (4)
- k’wanna (5)
- kita (6)
- goba (7)
- Our numbers from 8 to 15 are the Huttese equivalents of 10 to 17. These numbers are hunto (10), biska (11), boboba (12), goboba (13), joboba (14), soboba (15), koboba (16) and phoboba (17).
- The only other known Huttese number is 100 (144 in base 8): jujumon.
Step 9. Practice the pronunciation of Huttese
For the most part, Huttese is pronounced as it is spelled. However, the language has 1 or 2 sounds that may be unfamiliar to an English speaker. For example, the X is pronounced as a kissing sound or a loud sound from the lips.
- This sound appears in the phrase Ap-xmasi keepuna ("Don't shoot!").
- Watch and listen carefully to Huttese-speaking characters in Star Wars movies and television series and try to get closer to the harsh, guttural sounds of Huttese speech.
Method 2 of 2: Finding Resources for Learning Huttese
Step 1. Check out a book of artificial languages that comment on Huttese
If you are interested in a more academic and in-depth look at the characteristics of Huttese and other invented languages, buy a book of fictional or artificial languages. Books on this topic may be available at a local library, a bookstore near you, or an online book retailer.
- For example, you could take a look at the book The Art of Language Invention: From Horse-Lords to Dark Elves, by David J. Peterson.
- To discuss how Huttese relates to the real Quechua language of Peru, check out the Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages, by Tim Conley and Stephen Cain.
Step 2. Join a group discussion on artificial language
There are many online communities dedicated to discussing fictional languages like Huttese. In these groups, you can learn and share new phrases and discuss what little is known about Huttese grammar.
- For example, check out the community called r / conlangs on Reddit:
- You can also sign up for the Brown University Artificial Languages Mailing List:
Step 3. Research the Star Wars language wiki
This fan-made wiki contains information on all the languages used in the Star Wars universe, including Huttese. Research the wiki and join conversations with other Star Wars fans and specialists about the Huttese language at the following link:
Step 4. Attend conventions with workshops or panels on artificial languages
Sci-fi conventions can be a good place to meet not only other fans, but also people who specialize in studying and creating fictional languages. Look for a "science fiction convention with an artificial language panel" or similar to find out about upcoming events.
If you are attending a panel or workshop on artificial languages, bring a list of questions about Huttese. Even if you can't find any Huttese experts, you can start a lively discussion
Advice
- Huttese is loosely based on Quechua, a Peruvian language. However, learning Quechua will not really help you understand Huttese. For the most part, the similarities are superficial, with the two languages sounding a bit similar.
- Huttese does not have well-established grammar rules and the known vocabulary of the language is still limited. Have fun with it, and if you want, make up your own rules and vocabulary!