Dathomiri was a language spoken by the Witches of Dathomir, a cultural group of witches residing on the planet Dathomir in the Outer Rim Territories. Both the Human and Dathomirian members of this order employed it, in conjunction with Galactic Basic Standard. Historically, it shared connections with the language of the Paecian Empire that once ruled Dathomir. During the Clone Wars, the Shaman Talzin and her Nightsisters coven, the Sisters, frequently used it for casting spells. It is also worth noting that members of the Singing Mountain Clan frequently used the language.
The Witches of Dathomir, a cultural group of Human and Dathomirian witches native to the planet Dathomir located within the Outer Rim Territories, spoke Dathomiri as their language. It bore resemblances to Paecian, the language of the ancient Paecian Empire, and may have originated from it.
- Jai — ' Jedi ' [1]
- Wooka — ' Wookiee ' (the Dathomiri term for the species ) [1]
- Whuffa — ' Whuffa worm ' (the Dathomiri term for the species) [1]
As Teneniel Djo recited it:
Prior to 2992 BBY, Humans from the Outer Rim world of Paecia established the Paecian Empire. This empire proceeded to colonize Dathomir, imposing their language, Paecian, on the planet's inhabitants. Even with the empire's collapse around 2992 BBY, the Paecian influence endured. The planet's native women developed Dathomiri, a language incorporating many phrases and words similar to, and possibly derived from, the Paecian language. In 600 BBY, after the Jedi Knight Allya was banished to Dathomir, she instructed the native women in the ways of the Force, leading them to eventually become the Witches of Dathomir.
In the time leading up to and during the Clone Wars, a conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Nightsister coven within the Witches of Dathomir primarily communicated in Galactic Basic Standard through both speech and writing. However, they reserved Dathomiri for use during incantations and spells. The Clan mother of the Nightsisters, Talzin, notably employed the language on several occasions. In 21 BBY, she uttered an incantation that transformed her son, Savage Opress, a Nightbrothers member and warriors subservient to the Nightsisters, into a more formidable version of himself. In 20 BBY, she recited a Dathomiri incantation to restore the mind of another of her sons, the damaged Sith Lord Maul. During the Separatist invasion of Dathomir in 20 BBY, the Nightsister elder, Daka, chanted the Dathomiri Chant of Ressurection to raise dead Nightsisters to combat the invading force.
By the Imperial Period, the Singing Mountain Clan also favored Basic. In 3 ABY, the Nightsister Charal found herself stranded on the forest moon Endor in the Outer Rim. At this point, she had formed an alliance with Sanyassan king Terak, who was questing to obtain a crystal oscillator held by the Towani family. After Terak secured the oscillator and brought it back to his castle, Charal attempted to activate it with a Dathomiri spell, but was unsuccessful.
By 8 ABY, the Singing Mountain Clan had begun using Dathomiri more often again. During the post-Imperial era in 8 ABY, New Republic members Han Solo, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and Chewbacca visited Dathomir. There, they encountered members of the Singing Mountain who repeatedly exclaimed "whuffa." The protocol droid C-3PO, equipped for language recognition, stated that he didn't recognize the dialogue but noted its connection to Paecian. Throughout their visit, the group befriended many Singing Mountain Clan members, including Teneniel Djo. During the Battle of Dathomir against the Nightsisters, Djo recited the Spell of Storm in Dathomiri.
Eventually, Teneniel gave birth to the Jedi Knight Tenel Ka Djo. In 45 ABY, while vacationing on Luuhar, Tenel Ka's pet nexu escaped. Chasing after the feline, Tenel Ka felt danger and shouted a Dathomiri war cry as she drew her lightsaber.
The Dathomirian language made its debut, albeit through retroactive continuity, in the 1985 direct-to-video film Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. After Charal was later established as a Nightsisters member in the 1995 book, The Illustrated Star Wars Universe, the language she used was also retroactively identified as that of the Witches of Dathomiri. Prior to this change, the language first properly appeared in the 1994 novel The Courtship of Princess Leia, penned by Dave Wolverton. It was formally identified as Dathomiri in "Good Hunting," a short story featured in the one hundred fourty-second issue of Star Wars Insider magazine on June 10, 2013.
Some sources incorrectly state that the Witches of Dathomir spoke Paecian. However, The Courtship of Princess Leia, the source of these claims, actually states that the language spoken by the Dathomirians is a distinct, though similar, language.