Latin For Spell-Casting
This book covers the basics of Latin pronunciation and word-formation. It will be able to help you pronounce your spells better so that you can get better results, and also give you the tools you need to be able to create new spells of your own. This book is written by a PhD student in Linguistics at a muggle university. **THIS BOOK IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION** (Only chapters 1-3, and 5 are complete. This does include the chapter on the basics of Latin pronunciation.)
Last Updated
05/31/21
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Introduction
Chapter 1
It has been standard in the global magical community for incantations to be in Latin for quite some time. It is therefore necessary for the serious student of magic to also be a student of Latin. Although it is quite possible to get by with rote memorization of various spells, most witches and wizards find that studying Latin improves their spell-casting abilities quite a lot. This is for three reasons. First, more accurate pronunciation increases the power of your spell. Second, understanding the grammatical components of a spell also increases your concentration and willpower while casting it. Third, it is much easier to remember a large number of spells when you are aware of the grammatical patterns that underlie their incantations. Furthermore, many witches and wizards advanced in skill may wish to invent a new spell. To do so, they will need a knowledge of Latin grammar in order to create an accurate and appropriate incantation for the spell. This book aims to address all four of these areas.
Latin has been the official language for magical use since 132 A.D., when the Consilium Imperii Magi (CIM) met for the first time in Rome. At this time, the variety of Latin that was in use is known today as Classical Latin, and it is the use of Classical Latin that is the focus of this book.
After beginning with a brief history of Latin, both in its muggle and its magical contexts, I will give a primer on Latin pronunciation in chapters 3-4, followed by an introduction to the internal structure of Latin words in chapters 5-10. Chapter 11 is devoted to discussing the properties of phrasal incantations, that is, incantations that consist of more than one word. Chapters 12-14 cover a wide array of more advanced topics, such as spells in other languages and the design of spells.
This book will not be covering Latin vocabulary, besides the occasional example. As such, it is best used in conjunction with an English-Latin dictionary. You might also find it useful to consult Latin conjugation charts.
The book is written from a magical linguistics perspective. Linguistics is the scientific study of language, aiming to model the properties of language. Magical linguistics is that branch of linguistics that pertains to how language is used within magic.
