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 Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:05 pm
In fantasy we often find that certain languages, whether they be real or made up play a vital role. Most often, a created language or actual ancient language is used in association with magic.
Latin is one such language. It can sound either divine or unholy.
The track "Dies Irae" by Karl Jenkins is one that sounds very unholy, as if there is some kind of doom approaching a particular city or land. There is also "Tempus Vernum" (which means Spring Time) sung by Enya. Tempus Vernum's tempo flows like that of an incantation.
I'm actually interested in learning Latin (I have a "teach yourself" book and a small dictionary - had them for a long time but not managed to find the time to learn it thus far). It's one of those languages that is ancient, still used to some extent (especially in classical music), and is used by some denominations of Christianity as well as by the Occult. I think the names of most ailments and diseases are derived from Latin as well as many of our own words in the English language.
Although this topic could theoretically be placed in the Writer's Circle, I've put it here because it's linked to the arcane/magic side of fantasy.
If you use language in such ways in your own worlds, how are they used? And, what do we know about how and why such languages are used in the works of other authors? There's also the concept of why many believe that in fantasy magic should have its own language, so whatever spell you want to use can only be used/drawn into that realm by speaking certain words in a particular order (aka, spell)?
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:45 pm
I really haven't put much thought into a language in my writings and I suppose I could but I don't have the knowledge for it so... I mostly just concentrate on other things.
I do know that scientific names for animals are in Latin but other than that, I do not know much else about the language. Good for you for wanting to learn it Mel!
BTW, whenever I think of spells, I try not to think of words for them. Most of my characters either make some kind of pantomime for them or they are able to cast them by mere thought. I find that if one has to use words to cast a spell, they must not be very strong minded. Those are my two cents at least... mrgreen
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:36 am
In my world, those who harbour an essence of magic within them can cast by thought. Those who have to learn from books have to either speak or think the necessary words.
I personally don't think a world has much grounding unless different languages are implied. English is so widely spoken nowadays that it is fast becoming the "common language" as it's usually referred to as in many works of fantasy. With magic, I don't think things can occur so easily.
A lot of words in the English language are derived from Latin.
Ignis means "fire", and we turned ignis into ignite (set fire to), following on to ignition, and so forth. With water, you have the Latin term "aqua", which is where we talk about aquatic animals and aquariums.
Stella - stars
luna - moon
autumnus - autumn
tempus vernum - spring time
I don't know about a lot of languages, but I research little bits and pieces of them to add to specific areas of my world to give the reader the right impression of the kind of region they're reading about. I have a Spanish name for a stretch of water with a big group of large and small islands that's in a climate like that of the Med.
I think much the same of magic. Usually in fantasy there is a language associated with magic, but often only fragments of it are quoted in the story when a character speaks it. You're told in the description what kind of spell it is, but are not necessarily told what each word translates to.
I have a language that I have created myself, but as a lot of languages have different types of grammatical structures, I decided that I would have this language work in pretty much the same way as English - the words are just different. That isn't the language of magic though.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:30 pm
A particularly good website I stumbled upon is The Language Construction Kit (obviously, I'm a reaction #1 type of person smile ). I use it as reference when making new names for anything I create, although I tend to refer to a different website ( 20,000 Names) when naming characters.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:56 pm
I've dabbled in a little bit of conlanging. It's a lot of fun. Never brought anything to any sort of finished product, though.
When it comes to magic, though, I don't tend to make any sort of particular grammar. My idea is that the language of magic is untranslatable since it's something that shouldn't, logically, exist. Incantations are either the product of intense experimentation or divine inspiration (sometimes both) and are completely and entirely without an analogue in any grammar.
Berz.
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Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 2:22 pm
That's a nice way to see things Mel. Did you know that the exact word for moon in Spanish is actually "Luna"? I suppose all languages that are derived from Latin have to have at least one word that is pretty much the same as it is in Latin, huh?
But you know, I have to agree with Berz cuz that's how I think of magic and grammar. 3nodding
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:02 pm
I've never really thought of a language for magic and whether it'd require grammar or not to be honest. I want to study linguistics (at least as a hobby to begin with because it'd help with writing and making additions to the language I am trying to create).
It's probably true that it wouldn't need grammar as such, but incantations usually have some kind of word order that's usually repeated, so there must be some kind of structure to it if a world has one.
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Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:38 pm
Back when I was doing some roleplaying with friends I rarely speak to anymore, I made up my own form of Egyptian language that I would sometimes use. Of course, I only made up a few words considering how many are out there, but it would be used for swearing, speaking to the Gods, and for summoning up huge powers and attacking. I made up my fake Egyptian name by randomly punching keys on the keyboard and making sound nice... Little did I know that it even sounded Egyptian since it was made before the roleplaying! xD
I still have some of the words written down in a notebook somewhere. xD
Languages are used in fantasy books because it seems more "mystical" if something other than English is spoken. I have a side interest in Latin myself and wish to learn it one day. I just need the time and patience to do so, so it may be a few years before I get to that.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:46 am
It's good to know that you want to study linguistics Mel. Best of luck with that! Though you probably don't need it anyway... sweatdrop
Hmm, so you think that a particular world wouldn't need to worry about grammar or semantics? I made up a certain galaxy, if you will, where only one or two worlds actually have magic. As you can see, magic is very rare in that galaxy and on one of the worlds where magic can be practiced, it doesn't really require good grammar. And it's mostly cuz I am not very good on that subject, he-he. mrgreen
That's great dragon! I'm sure you'll get to study not only latin but a lot other things as well. You still have a lot of time cuz you're young after all. 3nodding
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