Learn Mando'a

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Lesson 1 - Lesson 2 - Lesson 3 -

This lesson has also been translated into German.
Lektion 1 -

This thread also has a sister discussion thread.
Discussion Thread

So this is Lesson 1: Basics

After getting your dictionary dictionary and quick grammar guide quick grammar guide from here here, it’s time to start learning to use Mando’a.

First, read the Mando’a Quick Grammar Guide to understand the basic foundation of this language.
Now then, let’s start –

Speaking the Language –

Most of the pronunciation is covered in the Mando’a Quick Grammar Guide.
What I add here is simply what I consider more accurate based on actual Mando’a dictionary pronunciations.

• E – sometimes pronounced “eh” in the middle of a word
  O – sometimes “aw”
  C – usually pronounced “s”, but is pronounced “k” when before “a”, “o”, or “u”

Sentence Structure -

First, look at these sentences,

• “Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you’ll be.”
  “Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori wadaas’la.”
  The word-for-word translation is, “Your bloodline not important; you as father, very valuable.”
  And,
  “Mando’ad draar digu.”
  “A Mandalorian never forgets.”

While not strictly defined, Mando’a sentence structure appears to generally be setup very similar to Basic. At the same time, the most important part of written or spoken Mando’a is clarity, so your word order should convey meaning to the reader or listener, even if it doesn’t fit this structure.


Hopefully more soon.

Admin's note: I edited this post to point the above links at their archived copies on Archive.Org

Lesson 2: More Basics

The Beten -

The beten is the word for the apostrophe used in Mando’a. A beten is sometimes used to indicate a slight glottal stop, or in some cases can also indicate pronunciation, breathing, or dropped letters.

The beten is also often used to link a prefix or suffix to the main word:
e.g. Nu'briikase (un-happy), Ori’dush (very-bad)
The beten can also connect words, as explained below.


Compound Words -

What are 'compound words'? Two (or more) Mando'a words, usually connected by a beten. Compound words, in this sense, create words with new, more precise meanings.

Examples of Mando'a compound words from KT's dictionary -
Jetii'kad - lightsaber (jedi-sword)
Epar'yaim - restaurant (eat-home)
Kar'taylir - to Know, hold in heart (heart-hold)

('Compound word' is my own term. If you have a better/more official name, please tell me.)


Memorization -

Yes! To learn Mando'a, you're going to need to actually know the words it's made up of!
To start off, here's five pronouns -

• I, me - Ni
  My, mine - Ner
  You, your - Gar
  He, him, his - Kaysh (also She, her, hers)
  They, their - Val

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Thats it for now. Please: comments, questions, critiques, etc.

Lesson 3: Basic Word List

Before I write anything else, I'm going to give a short explination.
Mando'a is essentially either a very simple language or an extremely complicated code. It just depends on how you treat it. It has identical rules to that of Basic except where outlined above, and probably won't be getting any very soon. So, the best way to learn Mando'a after you've got an understanding of what I've written in the last two lessons is to start using it.

I personally write my journal in Mando'a (my thoughts are safer than if locked up). I encourage you to do something. Read existing Mando'a text. Translate something. Write a book, poem, or song. Teach your friends. Whatever. By simply using it you will begin learning it.

That out of the way, here are the most commonly used Mando'a words. They're a great foundation to build your vocabulary on.

• 1 the – te, haar (rarely used)
  2 be – cuyir
  3 to – bah, at
  4 of - be
  5 and - bal
  6 a, an – eyn (raraly used)
  7 in – o’r
  8 that - ibac
  9 have - ganar
  10 I, me - ni
  11 it - bic
  12 for - par
  13 not - nu
  14 on - bat
  15 with - ti
  16 he, him, his - kaysh
  17 as - sa
  18 you, your - gar
  19 do - vaabir
  21 this - ibic
  22 but – a, a’, al
  24 by - de
  25 from - teh
  26 they, their, theirs - val
  27 we, us - mhi
  28 say - sirbur
  30 she, her, hers - kaysh
  31 or - ra
  33 will – ven’cuy
  34 my, mine - ner
  35 one - solus
  36 all - an
  38 there - ogir
  38 which, what, that, who – meg (megin before vowel)
  41 so - bid
  42 up - laam
  43 out - dayn
  44 if - meh
  46 who – tion’ad
  49 go - slanar
  51 when – tion’tuur
  52 make, create – gotal’ur
  53 able to, can - liser
  54 like - guuror
  55 time – ca’nara
  56 no - nayc
  57 just, only - shi
  59 know, hold in heart – kar’taylir
  60 take - hiibir
  61 people - adate
  62 into - lo
  63 year - simir
  65 good - jate
  66 some - ge'sol
  67 could – ret’liser
  69 see – haa’taylir
  70 other - ashi
  71 more than – ori’shya
  73 now - jii
  76 come, arrive - olaror
  77 its – be’bic
  78 over - jaon
  79 think, calculate - mirdir
  80 also - balyc
  81 back - norac
  83 use - pirimmur
  84 two – t’ad
  86 our, ours - cuun
  87 work - borarir
  88 first – sol’yc
  89 well, healthy - jahaala
  92 new - vaar
  93 want - copaanir
  94 because - jorcu
  96 these - ibice
  97 give - dinuir
  98 day - tuur
  99 most – ’ne (suffix)

You may notice I'm missing about twenty words, but if you actually count grouped words it comes up to 99 (I think).

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Thats it for now. Please: comments, questions, critiques, etc.

This page is getting a bit cluttered with discussion.
Discussion is good, though, so I decided to make this thread. Post questions, responses, spotted errors, and such there.

Wow! Why are you knowing Mando'a so well? Where did you learn this? It's great! How can I come to this? I'm just beginning, looking what's the best way to learn it.

You surely know the phrase "this is the way" from the Star wars series " the mandalorian". I couldn't find a translation to Mando'a so far. Can you give me one? How does a real Mando say it? My first words....
Thanks
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The strictest way to say it would be someithing like "Ibic cuy Yust" or "Ibic haar Yust", but Mandalorians simplify when they can, so just "bic yust" works as well.

I hadn't seen "yust" prior to downloading Mandor.pdf - any idea where it comes from?

I'd been using "Ibic te manda," which I had previously encountered searching random discussions online. The logic behind it was that while "the" (haar/te) is usually dropped, in this case it was significant enough to merit inclusion, and rather than translating "way" directly (path, etc.), the use of "manda" would imply "this is the essence of being Mandalorian."

Admittedly new to the language, but curious to learn more.

Yust is the root word for paths and roads, you can see it in things like go'yust (combining the word for construction and engineering, referring to a built road) and yustapir (river, using the word for water) and yustarud (perimeter, referring to circles). The common element is yust, clearly referring to a path or way.

Manda is a great alternative given the context in which the phrase is used.

Thanks for the explanation about yust, I hadn't encountered it yet. I've just started delving into the canon-adjacent vocabulary shared here outside of the dictionary... impressive work! The forum is a great resource, and it's nice to be able to talk to folks who share an interest in the language (meatspace friends have been less enthusiastic thus far ).

Yeah, the real trick is getting people to agree

I think we have as many dialects as we do speakers :p

Ha! All good. I do some writing at work and it's hard enough to get the group to agree on a brief passage in English. As long as we wind up with something that's understandable and doesn't break any cardinal rules, we're probably in good shape.