Old Alderaanian was a language from the Core Worlds planet Alderaan that was considered ancient by 232 BBY. That year, Jedi Knight Dez Rydan discovered a set of binding statues on the Amaxine Space Station with inscriptions he felt resembled the language's script. After being informed of the findings, research expert Jedi Master Cohmac Vitus agreed to investigate the artifacts.
In 42 BBY, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn began assigning his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, research work about ancient prophecies—some of which were written in Old Alderaanian. The Padawan grew weary of the work, finding it irrelevant, but eventually gained a limited understanding of the language. After studying an Old Alderaanian prophecy script in the Core Worlds planet Coruscant's Jedi Temple Archives in 40 BBY, Kenobi brought the materials to Jinn for review. The pair briefly discussed the Padawan's comprehension of the language, with the Padawan expressing his frustrations about the work.
Old Alderaanian was a language from the Core Worlds planet Alderaan that was considered ancient by 232 BBY. Its written form could be used to write scripts with glyph groupings that visually appeared different from the Aurebesh writing system used to transcribe the Galactic Basic language.
Daz Rydan felt that the inscriptions on the Amaxine Station's statues resembled Old Alderaanian.
During the reign of the Galactic Republic, some scrolls and holocrons using the language were stored in the Jedi Temple on the Core Worlds planet Coruscant within its Jedi Archives. During the High Republic Era, some Jedi studied the language, including the artifact expert Jedi Master Cohmac Vitus and Jedi Knight Dez Rydan. While sheltering on the Amaxine Space Station in 232 BBY, Rydan, Jedi Padawan Reath Silas, and the pilot Affie Hollow discovered a set of binding statues with ancient inscriptions in an unfamiliar script.
Although Rydan was unable to translate the glyphs, he felt that they reminded him of a few ancient languages he had studied, including Old Alderaanian. He informed Jedi Wayseeker Orla Jareni of his discovery, who in turn told Vitus, insisting that the latter investigate the artifacts. Jareni felt that Vitus's expertise in the field might help determine if the statues in question were actually using Old Alderaanian, and the latter agreed, telling her to lead him to them. After considering, Vitus later felt the style of the statues' carvings more closely resembled the ancient Kubaz language, a writing system considered distant by that time.
At some point after being introduced to the holocron of prophecy in 67 BBY, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn developed an interest in old languages—including Old Alderaanian—due to the prophecies written in them. In 42 BBY, Jinn assigned his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, research tasks to decipher the prophecies in the Archives, and the latter began to learn enough of the language to understand it partially. Although Kenobi continued to enjoy studying the Jedi Archives' extensive collection of knowledge by the time of his mission to the planet Lenahra in 41 BBY, he eventually began to dislike his Master's hobby due to the amount of research support it required.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (left) researched prophecies written in Old Alderaanian at the behest of his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn (right).
While researching a prophecy written in Old Alderaanian in 40 BBY, Kenobi again sulked over the tedious nature of his work in the Archives, considering it useless compared to the exciting activities his other Padawan friends did with their Masters. However, he brushed off his discontent and continued studying the materials with him in his Archives carrel. Later that evening, Kenobi brought several resources written in Old Alderaanian to Jinn in the latter's quarters, explaining that the prophecies within them seemed vague. The Jedi Master was surprised his Padawan understood any of the material, though the latter explained he only partially comprehended it.
The pair briefly argued over the sources he had brought, with Kenobi believing the effort to understand ancient mysteries was fruitless, while Jinn felt there was much to be learned from the old mystics. Jinn then dismissed his student to have a break from his work, as the sources he had brought would last him several days of reading. On his way out, Kenobi jokingly asked about how many trips to the Archives he would have to make going forward, hoping his Master's obsession with prophecies written in ancient languages—such as Old Alderaanian—would cease, but eventually left after seeing that his query visibly upset his Master.
Old Alderaanian first appeared in Master & Apprentice, a 2019 novel by Claudia Gray.