Twi'leki

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"Sir, what is that she keeps calling us?'
"Nerra. It means brother."
―Waxer and Obi-Wan Kenobi[2]

Twi'leki,[1] also known as Ryl,[3] was a language spoken by Twi'leks from Ryloth.[1] It combined verbal sounds and an elaborate sign language using the Twi'lek's head-tails, called lekku. That sign language allowed the Twi'leks to communicate complete concepts without having to pronounce a single word. Raising the tip of one's right lek meant "Hello!" while dipping the tip of one's left lek meant "Goodbye!" By crossing over both lekku tips twice, a Twi'lek meant to say "I love you." Both lekku tips jabbed into the speaker's back were to be understood as "May spice salt your wounds!"[4]

The Twi'lek Jedi Knight Aayla Secura knew how to speak both Twi'leki and Galactic Basic Standard. Upon being shown the body of the deceased Jedi Master Fondar Etzis, she bid goodbye to him in Twi'leki.[5] Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was able to speak Ryl; however, being human, he was only able to communicate verbally.[2]

Examples

  • Nerra ("brother")[2]
  • Rahn fanyo ("I'm fine" or "Don't worry")[2]
  • Yana ("Yes")[2]
  • Wa-janeel ("Follow me!")[2]
  • Koma jel ree-kha (contextually, a warm greeting, expressing joy to see the person again)[2]
  • Wachamio! ("Let's go!")[6]
  • Ma sareen ("My sweet")[7]
  • Thiku passi et ikha freetaa ael ka'vish.[5]
  • Tabaialo.[8]
  • Nio rella ri eeta.[8]
  • Ota, ota.[8]
  • Ya kumay na.[9]
  • Kumay na.[9]
  • Loonala kwee jannweelo?[2]
  • Gutkurr.[2]
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Behind the scenes

In canon, Twi'leki first appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Innocents of Ryloth,"[2] which first aired on March 6, 2009.[10] It was first identified as Twi'leki in Ryloth's online Databank entry on StarWars.com[1] while its alternate name of Ryl was first given in the 2015 novel Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp.[3] As confirmed by writer Marc Guggenheim,[11] a pictured form of Twi'leki would also finally appear in the 2025 comic Jedi Knights 6.[5]

Twi'leki originated in Star Wars Legends. Fans of the Infinite Empire roleplaying forums put together their own dictionary for Twi'leki, basing some words on Legends-era sources and creating other words on their own as fanon. This dictionary would later become the source for the Twi'leki spoken by Aayla Secura in Jedi Knights 6.[12]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 StarWars-DatabankII Ryloth in the Databank (backup link)
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Innocents of Ryloth"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lords of the Sith
  4. ↑ Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Jedi Knights 6
  6. ↑ Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
  7. ↑ Last Shot
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Sphere of Influence"
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "To Catch a Jedi"
  10. ↑ StarWars.com The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Innocents of Ryloth on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
  11. ↑ BlueskyLogo Marc Guggenheim (@marcguggenheim.bsky.social) on Bluesky (post on August 15, 2025): "Hey! Thank you for noticing!" (backup link) (In response to: "the first time in canon we've seen written out twi'lek language, by the way! nice pull!")
  12. ↑ TwitterLogo NumidianPrime (@NumidianPrime) on Twitter (post on August 14, 2025): "Had a hunch and managed to source most of this funeral speech Aayla gives in the new Jedi Knights #6 to a fanon Twi'lek dictionary I found on a forum (https://infiniteempirerpg.proboards.com/thread/1190/ryl-basic-dictionary), with some of the words having old Legends grounding and most being fanmade." (backup link)
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