Re: MADJAL: A conlang game. Round one. (longish)

--- James Worlton <JWorlton@...> wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:05:48 -0700, Gary Shannon
> <fiziwig@...> wrote:
>
> >Just a note on pronunciation of Madjal.  Presumably
> it
> >is spoken around the world with many different
> >accents, so there is no single "correct"
> >pronunciation.  Spelling is stanmdardized, but
> whever
> >it is spoken, it is spoken a little differently, so
> >phonetic renderings of the words are not really
> >practical.
> >
> >--gary
>
> Hmm. In my nascent conculture pronunciation is
> vitally important. The sounds of the
> 'magic invoking' phrases have to be tuned just right
> to the energies of the planet.
> A less-than-perfect pronunciation will result in
> less-than-perfect (sometimes
> catastrophic :) ) consequences. Of course, other
> preparations for magical invocation
> are required as well, so one can't just 'say the
> magic words' and expect a result. But
> even after all of the preparations the pronunciation
> has to be precise. Maybe it's just
> the composer in me...
>
> James W.
>
More a conculture issue than a conlang issue, but by
way of justification (which I'm making up right now on
the spot, by the way)...

In the alternate universe where Madjal is used for
magical purposes the effectiveness of a magical
incantation depends on the effect it has on the
nervous system of the spell caster.  The source of
magick is presumed to be within the magician himself
and only needs to be harnessed and channeled.  Thus
each magick user has his or her own personally unique
neural resonance patterns which are phase-locked by an
incantation that is unique to that individual
depending on his own early linguistic exposure.

Thus it is the _meaning_ of the incantation and not
the sound of it that serves as the trigger for the
msytical forces invoked, so that blah, blah, blah,
mumble, bumble, jumble, ... [waves hands emphatically]

Q.E.D.

--gary