The Minions speak a fictional language called Minionese , sometimes referred to as the "Banana language"
. Minionese is not a real language but a playful, constructed language (conlang) designed for comedic effect. It is a whimsical blend of gibberish, sound effects, and real words borrowed from many different languages, including:
- English
- Spanish
- French
- Italian
- Hindi
- Korean
- Filipino
- Japanese
- Indonesian
- German
Minionese incorporates recognizable words and phrases from these languages, often related to food or everyday expressions, mixed with nonsense sounds and expressive intonation. For example:
- "Bello!" (Hello, from Italian)
- "Banana!" (English)
- "Poopaye!" (Goodbye, possibly from French "au revoir")
- "Para tu!" (For you, Spanish)
- "Gelato!" (Ice cream, Italian)
- "Hana dul sae!" (One, two, three, Korean)
The language was created by Pierre Coffin, the director of the Despicable Me and Minions movies, who intentionally combined elements from various languages to make Minionese sound both familiar and universally funny
