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<blockquote data-quote="Merkuri" data-source="post: 5370499" data-attributes="member: 41321">The language doesn't necessarily have to be created by anyone.&nbsp; It could just be there.&nbsp; It might be more like the words created everything, the words are everything.Imagine that you live inside a computer game.&nbsp; If you learned to speak magical words of &quot;code&quot; you could change the world however you wanted, as long as you knew the right words.&nbsp; In a way, all a computer game is is code.&nbsp; This is the same sort of way that this magical language could BE the world.Exactly.&nbsp; There are very few magic systems where the words used were invented by mortals.&nbsp; Remember that ideas like this came from a time when people didn't realize where languages came from.&nbsp; There are quite a few myths where language was handed down by gods.&nbsp; Also, at the same time most people couldn't read, and the idea that symbols on paper could hold meaning seemed a bit magical to them, so it was a short step from there to the idea that symbols on paper could be used to do magic.I think this was the part where you and everybody else talking about languages were getting signals crossed.&nbsp; I'm pretty sure we all assumed that magical languages were not the same as languages spoken by mortals.&nbsp; Magical languages are something different.Though the Dresden files take on using words in spells is a big different.&nbsp; Let's see if I can explain it right... The words themselves don't have power, but they act to shield the caster from his own energies.&nbsp; He needs to use words that he associates with the power, but he can't associate the words too strongly or the protection will be gone.&nbsp; So an English caster doesn't want to say &quot;fire&quot; to cast a fire spell (he can, but it won't provide him much protection), but he can say &quot;incendia&quot; (Latin for &quot;fire&quot;).&nbsp; Most casters use archaic languages, like Latin or ancient Greek, but even gibberish will do, as long as you know what the made-up words mean.&nbsp; I thought it was an interesting take on it when I read it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Merkuri, post: 5370499, member: 41321"] The language doesn't necessarily have to be created by anyone. It could just be [I]there[/I]. It might be more like the words created everything, the words [I]are[/I] everything. Imagine that you live inside a computer game. If you learned to speak magical words of "code" you could change the world however you wanted, as long as you knew the right words. In a way, all a computer game is is code. This is the same sort of way that this magical language could BE the world. Exactly. There are very few magic systems where the words used were invented by mortals. Remember that ideas like this came from a time when people didn't realize where languages came from. There are quite a few myths where language was handed down by gods. Also, at the same time most people couldn't read, and the idea that symbols on paper could hold meaning seemed a bit magical to them, so it was a short step from there to the idea that symbols on paper could be used to do magic. I think this was the part where you and everybody else talking about languages were getting signals crossed. I'm pretty sure we all assumed that magical languages were not the same as languages spoken by mortals. Magical languages are something different. Though the Dresden files take on using words in spells is a big different. Let's see if I can explain it right... The words themselves don't have power, but they act to shield the caster from his own energies. He needs to use words that he associates with the power, but he can't associate the words too strongly or the protection will be gone. So an English caster doesn't want to say "fire" to cast a fire spell (he can, but it won't provide him much protection), but he can say "incendia" (Latin for "fire"). Most casters use archaic languages, like Latin or ancient Greek, but even gibberish will do, as long as you know what the made-up words mean. I thought it was an interesting take on it when I read it. [/QUOTE]

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