LAWHAMMER MAGIC

THE LANGUAGE OF MAGICK

lingua praestantia
In which the author provides a brief guide to the pronunciation of spells as recorded by the Colleges of Magic

Magick, or lingua praestantia, is the tonal language used by the

Colleges of Magic to form the infinite potential of the Common Vowels
metaphysical aethyr into quantifiable effects in physical reality. The lingua preastantia officially uses 33 vowel sounds with 33 modifying
When spoken by someone with an affinity for the Winds of diacritics. However, most curriculum spells taught by the Colleges of Magic
Magic, lingua praestantia forms order from Chaos and manifests only use 10 core vowel sounds, as this was deemed the simplest way of
the material from the immaterial. teaching magic to Humans by Loremaster Yrtle. The following details these
10 sounds and provides the most common letters and diacritics used to
The explanation for why the Winds of Magic are drawn to the record them in grimoires. It also provides pronunciation examples from the
words of the lingua praestantia, then crystalise into reality around Emperor’s Reikspiel – other dialects may pronounce the words differently.
them, is a matter of much debate in the Colleges. What is certain
Letters Pronunciation Articulation
is that the chaotic potential of the aethyr can be shaped by
/a/ batter, land, nap open front unrounded
‘channelling’. Channelling is the focussed shaping of local Winds /ɑ/ /ä/ bath, hard, last open back unrounded
of Magic with the will, much like water can be gathered and /o/ not, top, watch open back rounded
directed with a syphon. This concentrated magical power can /ʌ/ /å/ but, love, one near-open central
then be manifested with a ‘spell’, a precise sequence of sounds that /e/ bed, intend, went open-mid front unrounded
forms magic into a chosen pattern in the Mortal Realms. /œ/ /ö/ Bögenhafen, Söll open-mid front rounded
/ɜ/ /i/ bird, heard, turn open-mid central unrounded
However, the words of magic are extremely dangerous. A /ɔ/ /aw/ law, not, yawn open-mid back rounded
mispronounced incantation combined with magical energy can have /u/ /ô/ /oo/ good, fruit, too near-close back rounded
dangerous and unpredictable consequences. So, spells must be perfectly /i/ /œ/ /ee/ beater, lee, tea close front unrounded
intoned when cast, whether they are recited from memory or read from
a grimoire. To make this possible, lingua praestantia is a highly precise Common Consonants
language, with every letter of every word accurately recording a single The lingua praestantia included 30 consonants when it was formulated for
comprehensible unit of sound. Where it may be fine for Reikspiel to the Colleges of Magic by Loremaster Teclis. However, two centuries of
use the letter ‘c’ in different ways according to context, with words such further study have added many more sounds and letters to this, all of
as can, celestial, church, or abscess using a ‘c’ to make a [k], [s], [tʃ], or a which can be used to create new spells or modify existing ones. The
silent sound, that is unacceptable for accurately recording and reciting examples below list the 30 core consonants used by Magick, and also
spells. In Magick, every letter must be attached to a single sound and show some of the letters used in grimoires to record them.
only that sound to minimise the chances for catastrophic error. Letters Pronunciation Articulation
/m/ mill, stomach, tom voiced, bilabial nasal
Even the smallest of mispronunciations can release the channelled /n/ north, onto, win voiced alveolar nasal
power needed for a spell, much like water can flow through the /ŋ/ /ng/ function, ink, sing voiced velar nasal
smallest of cracks. To avoid this, most spellcasters read and reread /p/ peasant, ripe, sip voiceless bilabial stop
their spells, repeating the precise formulation of sounds within /b/ battle, jibe, nib voiced bilabial stop
/t/ tall, utter, wont voiceless alveolar stop
their minds until the spells are memorised. However, this isn’t
/d/ dare, feeder, led voiced alveolar stop
always as easy as it could be.
/k/ cut, factor, hack voiceless velar stop
Two hundred years of magical advancement and linguistic drift have /g/ great, ligament, nag voiced velar stop
/q/ (Talabheim) back voiceless uvular stop
left the lingua praestantia in a volatile position. New letters and
/ʔ/ /’/ (Altdorf) butter glottal stop
corresponding sounds have been added to its alphabet, different wizards /tʃ/ /ç/ /ch/ chit, fetcher, hitch voiceless postalveolar affricate
have recorded the language in different ways, and old forms have /c/ /dʒ/ /j/ jewel, ledger, podge voiced postalveolar affricate
slipped from favour as new methods rise. Today, the Magick used by /s/ sap, tassle, yes voiceless alveolar fricative
the eight Colleges of Magic is splintered, with competing versions of /z/ zap, possess, faze voiced alveolar fricative
the language vying for prominence and different wizards determined /ʃ/ /§/ /sh/ shaman, usher, wish voiceless postalveolar fricative
that their way of doing things is best. /ʒ/ /j/ casual, leisure, vision voiced postalveolar fricative
/f/ frenzy, gift, laugh voiceless labiodental fricative
Modern Magick uses an alphabetic system of phonetic notation /v/ vim, haver, salve voiced labiodental fricative
drawn from Classical, but no two Colleges can agree what is the best /þ/ /θ/ /ø/ /th/ thin, trothed, wroth voiceless dental fricative
way to do this. There are many variations on how Magick is recorded /ð/ /th/ their, bather, with voiced dental fricative
/x/ broch, och!, loch voiceless velar fricative
in grimoires, and this can make studying new spells precarious work.
/h/ hate, behind, hut voiceless glottal fricative
Because of the different way Magick letters are used, a simple spell /y/ /j/ usual, tune, yard voiced palatal approximant
recorded as jakhinor could be pronounced in several different ways, /ɾ/ /r/ red, worry, voiced alveolar tap
including ‘Jak-hin-or’, ‘Yoo-ahkeen-or’, or ‘Djaak-een-or’. Given a /r/ (Nordland) rot, far voiced alveolar trill
single mistake in pronunciation could lead to the death of the wizard /l/ black, led, little voiced alveolar lateral approximant
attempting to cast the spell, its easy to see why many wizards are /ɫ/ /l/ lull, real, sell velarised alveolar lateral approximant
unwilling to use any grimoire except their own. /w/ wall, walk, weep voiced labial-velar approximant
/ʍ/ (Nordland) whine voiceless labial-velar fricative

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