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harry potter - What Wording Did Witches and Wizards in Other Cultures Use for Spells?


The spells that we know about in the Harry Potter world all seem to be either in Latin, derived from Latin, or resembling Latin. This makes sense for the European World, but there were likely witches and wizards in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. These cultures would have developed independently, and the magical people in them would likely have still found ways to cast their spells.



Do cultures with languages that did not derive from Latin use the same words and phrases that are related to Latin for their spells? Or did they have other phrases based on the languages in their cultures?



Answer





  • We don't know for sure, but we know for certain that it was not necessarily Latin based




    • Ancient Egypt has wizards long before Roman empire. Bill Weasley dealt with the consequences professionally.





    • Ancient Greece had wizards




    • Based on newly revealed details about Newt Scamander prequels, Native Americans had wizards and traditions, which from my understanding are separate from European ones.






  • However, it may be that most of them are out of some old language, by JKR's out-of-universe design:




    I enjoy feeling that wizards would continue to use this dead language in their everyday life." ("About the Books: transcript of J.K. Rowling's live interview on Scholastic.com," Scholastic.com, 16 October 2000)


    "It just amused me, the idea that wizards would still be using Latin as a living language, although it is, as scholars of Latin will know ... I take great liberties with the language for spells. I see it as a kind of mutation that the wizards are using." (Rogers, Shelagh. "INTERVIEW: J.K. Rowling," Canadian Broadcasting Co., October 23, 2000)





  • Also, judging by the fact that words aren't strictly speaking necessary (see both children's accidental magic, and non-verbal magic taught for dueling), most likely a word - like a wand - is just a method to concentrate your mind and make it think the "right" thing. While that's my personal speculation, it's the only thing that makes sense give the way Potterverse wopks. Sort of a reverse-Sapir–Whorf hypothesis :)



    Because a wand, in my world, is merely a vehicle -- a vessel for what lies inside the person. (JKR - An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp)



    And if that's true, then the spells other cultures use probably use equivalent words in their own language.





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