Magical Foreign Words: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

When [[Language of Magic]] and [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign]] meet, you get this.

 

{{examples}}

A standard trope in many [[Anime]] and [[Toku]] productions.

* In [[Cardcaptor Sakura]]. All the card names are in English, and the final word of the incantation to turn the key into the wand is "Release!". Not carried over into the English dub for obvious reasons.

* Most of the characters in ''[[Kamichama Karin]]'' use Latin for their attacks and suchwhat.... except for Karin, who instead springs for [[Gratuitous English]].

* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'': Is a spell of Mid-Childa origins? Chances are good that it will be in English. Is a spell of Ancient Belka origins? Chances are good that it will be in German.

* All magical spells in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' are done in Latin or Ancient Greek, with a few done in Sanskrit, all of which are surprisingly [[Shown Their Work|well done]]. The rule of thumb is that the older the language is, the more powerful it is.

* The incantations in ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' are usually [[Gratuitous English]] but come from everything from Chinese to Portugeuse as well - you'd think it would have been from the lost language of the Moon Kingdom, but the foreign babbling just sounds more stylish.

* A lot of the spells/magic attacks in ''[[Sugar Sugar Rune]]'' are in French.

 

* During the first volume of the ongoing ''[[Gravel]]'', Bill is talking to a magician named Sykes who notes that many of his peers considered him quaint for treating the archaic terms he uses to count sheep as magical. Given at the time they're talking, Sykes is the most senior member of one of Brittain's foremost occult orders...

 

* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', it serves as a buffer, protecting the mind of the caster from the direct connection that using your own language would be. It doesn't have to be ''actual'' Latin or whatever - most of Harry's spells are in pseudo-Latin but his ''actual'' Latin is terrible.

** The language used is pure preference, with other characters shown using pseudo-Egyptian, pseudo-Aztec, and pseudo-Japanese.

** It's the pseudo-ness that's important: the more you know of the language, the less protection it gives you. People are known to make up their own completely nonsensical languages for that express purpose.

 

* This trope is justified in [[Patricia C. Wrede]]'s ''Mairelon the Magician'' and sequels. It doesn't matter what language incantations are in, as long as it's not the native language of the spellcaster; if you try to cast a spell using your own native language, it becomes uncontrollable.

* Poul Anderson's ''[[Operation Chaos]]'' states that "exotic tongues are necessary for the more powerful spells--which is why so many African and Asian students come here to learn American slang...."

** In the first section of the book, the protagonist cobbles together an emergency spell using Pig Latin.

 

* ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' and ''[[Super Sentai]]'' often see use of [[Gratuitous English]]; such that when ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]'' chose to go with mainly Japanese for its attack names, it stood out. ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' usually has the devices do this, though ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'' is notable for the [[Fusion Dance]] duo that make the headlining rider using [[Gratuitous English]] and German to "sync" themselves for the [[Finishing Move|Maximum Drives]].

** ''Shinkenger'''s aversion became a straight example when it was adapted into English as ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]'', as the magic system is still based in Japanese kanji.

* ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' uses Old English.

 

 

* [[Real Life]] quasi-example: The incantation "hocus-pocus" is thought to be derived from the Latin "''Hoc est corpus meum'' (This is my body)," from the Roman Catholic Mass. It is thought that, at the moment the officiating priest utters the phrase, the bread and wine are supernaturally transmogrified into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. Latin was / is, of course, a language that very few people outside of a few specialized professions know.

** "Abra cadabra" is derived from the Hebrew "Avra v'davra," which translates to "I make and I do." (Yeah, kinda loses some of the mystery in translation.)

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Language Tropes]]

[[Category:Word Power]]