How does one speak Minion? The answer to this is difficult, as Minion is a near impossible language to learn. For one thing, they will mix words from other languages (Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, English, etc.) in with their own language on a whim, making word usage inconsistent. For another, certain words mean exactly the same as others, and occasionally Minions will bend or break the rules on what words mean what. For example:

Ti means “you” in Italian (when used in conjunction with other words) and tu means “your” in Spanish (also when used in conjunction with other words). They will use these words sometimes, such as when they say “I love you”. However, in the I Swear/Underwear song they sing at the end of the second film, “tu” in one instance equates to “you” and not “your”. And some words used for one thing mean something else entirely in another section of the lyrics. Take this one, for example:

Le jori e’ tu=For better or worse

Now “tu” equates to “worse”, and the word “La” in that song can mean anything from “the”… to “I’ll”… to “like”. There is little to no rhyme or rhythm to their language, so you’d have to know what words can be changed and used in conjunction with other words while still making sense. Certain rules of their language seem to mimic those of other, foreign languages, such as in Japanese where a name may precede words that, in English, would normally go before that name. Additionally, some words in our language that are short for us are ridiculously long in Minion, and they may switch where a word is normally placed. For example, “Tulaliloo ti amo” means “We love you”. “Ti”=“you” here, so they’re using that Italian word correctly. However, “Tatata bala tu” means “I hate you”, and in that case they’re using “tu” instead of “ti” for “you”, so they’re breaking the rules again. “Bala” obviously equates to “hate”, but “tatata” almost comes across as an angry sound that a child would use to signify disgust or hatred without actually using their spoken language correctly. One might say that Minion speak is a combination of words that are grounded into their language and never changed, actual words used in our world/universe, and words based purely on emotions (i.e., how they feel at the time may determine exactly what word they choose to utter, whether it's used incorrectly or not).

Certain words are grounded into their language and are not changed, however. “Bee do” means fire, for example, and “bello” means “hello”. “Gelato” is “ice cream”, which is easy to remember and is an example of them substituting a word from a language other than their own to describe something. Other words are strictly English, such as “banana”, and sometimes they’ll combine this word (and maybe other words) to describe something that doesn’t even have to do with that word they’re combining it with. One reference says that “bananonina” means “ugly”, for example.

In conclusion, much of it is guess work, figuring out what they’re saying from the inflection in their tones and by what words of ours they use. As was previously mentioned, however, there are certain words and phrases that are, for the most part, stable and are never altered. A list of these words can be found below. Words and phrases with an asterisk (*) by them indicate words/phrases that are occasionally altered to mean other things. Words and phrases with two asterisks (**) by them indicate words/phrases of whose meaning is only guessed at.

Note: New words will be added as they are discovered.