The Minions' Language In Despicable Me Explained | Netflix

Everybody knows the Minions, the lovable little mischief-makers that star in the Despicable Me franchise. The small, yellow creatures live to be henchmen, trusted followers of the most villainous villain they can find. That's why they serve anti-hero extraordinaire Gru.

Minions have a unique look, but what's even more unique is their language. On the surface it sounds like they're speaking complete gibberish, but if you listen closely, it's really an intricate and nuanced vocabulary.

Very nuanced. Here's what it all means.

Minionese, as it's known, is a constructed language created by Despicable Me co-directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud. While it may sound like incoherent babbling, the practically indistinguishable words are actually a handcrafted dialect specifically designed for the Minions.

Minionese is a combination of several real languages, including French, Italian, Spanish, Hindi, and Japanese, among others. One example of how these words are blended together to create the jumbled language comes from Despicable Me 2.

The phrase he uses there is a combination of French and Hindi that describes the popular Indian-style chicken dish.

A lot of what Minions say consists of silly sounding words strung together from various different languages with some actual gibberish thrown in. So no matter where you are in the world, you probably recognize something that comes out of the Minions' mouths.

It's not inconceivable that the Minions would know so many languages, considering their origin movie the aptly titled Minions established that they've been traveling the world since the beginning of time in search of the perfect villain to serve. Why wouldn't they speak multiple dialects?

A melting pot of languages | 0:00
Prominent English | 2:11
Context is worth 1,000 words | 3:35
One man, many voices | 4:34

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The Minions' Language In Despicable Me Explained | Netflix
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