The Last Jedi is plural – in translation, anyway

Several foreign translations for The Last Jedi title came through today, and it’s noteworthy because every single one of them – French, Spanish, German and Italian) – implies that the term ‘Jedi’ is a plural. (The term Jedi itself is both singular and plural, so it depends entirely upon context.)

I’m no linguist, but I do tend to side-eye most pre-release fan theories in any context, so take it as you will. In any case, as The Mary Sue’s Dan Van Winkle reminds us: “we don’t know who made these decisions,” and after almost 34 years it’s still possible to debate whether the Jedi in Return of the Jedi (singular, in translation) is Luke or Anakin. I may not be inclined to set any flags down just yet, but you can’t deny that it’s a nice piece of evidence for those who do.

2 Replies to “The Last Jedi is plural – in translation, anyway”

  1. In German the translation of Return of the Jedi is plural… I am not sure whether it was so important to them back then, but I am sure the plural now is a very heavily discussed decision.

  2. The translation titles of the prequels were very strictly guided by Lucasfilm. I would be very surprised if they would allow these decisions to be made by translators themselves now.

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