Harry Potter 🪄 Latin in Magic Spells 🧙‍♂️

[@new_donker7189]

- ACTUALLY, Hermione, It's 'rèparo' not 'repàro'. - But the spell worked. - I DON'T CARE.

[@Ana_crusis]

You have the accent on the a of reparo facing the wrong way it would be Á, if it needed an accent which it doesn't because these words come from Portuguese and any word with three syllables or more has its accent on the penultimate syllable by default unless it has a diacritic mark over the syllable you need to emphasise

[@PC_Simo]

⁠​⁠@@Ana_crusis Well; that means that the accent on ”E”, in ”réparo”, is also facing the wrong way. It needs to be: ”É”: ”Réparo”; and, there, you actually need an accent; since the stress is on the antepenultimate syllable.

[@Ana_crusis]

​@@PC_Simo there should not be any accenr on the e because it is pronounced rePARo no REparo. Nor on the a as i already said. The word doesn't need any accents at all.

[@PC_Simo]

@@Ana_crusis Yes, but to demonstrate the hypothetical negative example of ”REparo”.

[@Ana_crusis]

@@PC_Simo I'm sorry but that's a completely meaningless sentence

[@ErasersRoq]

I don't know if you've ever played the game, but I would like to see you review the Latin language setting in Minecraft.

[@Someone-ym1ny]

I second this

[@rafaellucascarvalho464]

Oof, good ideia!!

[@DTux5249]

There's a Latin setting for Minecraft?

[@Stripeyman]

@@DTux5249 Yup! There's a lot of interesting language settings for Minecraft, including Anglish (Fully germanic English) and Pirate Speak (Yarr harr English). Really neat stuff.

[@DTux5249]

@@Stripeyman bruh, Imma have to check this out lol

[@thadeusgaspar224]

the use of pseudo-latin jargons, also known as "dog latin" has been staple between real life magicians for centuries, Hocus Pocus for instance.

[@pterispertinax2868]

Lingua Latina caniformis

[@CM-ss5pe]

@@Glassandcandy Actually, that's a commonly stated thing that's not proven to be true and it's generally not accepted by linguists. Most sources claim the phrase was coined in 'pseudo-Latin' (alongside other such phrases) specifically because it sounded magical-like and magicians used it while performing.

[@desanipt]

Macaronic Latin

[@thadeusgaspar224]

@@Glassandcandy thats a theory, maybe it wasnt malicious, could also be that they thought of Catholic rituals as magic, wich would make sense since in Roman Dogma the bread transubstantiates into flesh at the moment the Priest professes "Hoc est Corpus", but noone knows for certain what it comes from.

[@thadeusgaspar224]

i would also suggest the association of Latin with magic is mostly because of Catholic mysticism and lithurgy, a possibility that wasnt cited in the video

[@Myrmidon_Maxinobia]

Luke hating Anglicized Latin pronunciations is showing his inter Romanization, he is truly a champion of culture that we've needed

[@DieFlabbergast]

*inner Romanness maybe? ("Romanization" is the transliteration of other scripts into the Latin alphabet)

[@Verismo1004]

Gryffindors - do not care about correct Latin usage. Slytherins - only care about correct Latin usage to feel superior. Ravenclaws - definitely care about correct Latin usage and will let you know it. Hufflepuffs - enjoy both correct Latin and Latin-inspired words and make videos about them on youtube.

[@olegtarasovrodionov]

Why Hermione Granger was not put in ravenclaws?

[@thatsoundslikeheresytomeyo4960]

@@olegtarasovrodionov because she is a main character, silly.

[@guadalu]

I'm such a hufflepuff hahaha

[@sarantis1995]

@@olegtarasovrodionov JKR has stated that the sorting hat was thinking of assigning her in Ravenclaw

[@FalconWindblader]

@@olegtarasovrodionov Not everyone in the houses fit their stereotypes, & people do generally fit in more than one house. The sorting hat simply choose the one that is closest, if the sorted one doesn't have any particular preference, or in the case where the sorted one does have a preference, the hat would take said preference into consideration. In the case of Hermione, it's either she preferring to be in Gryffindor, or the hat simply finds her fitting better there than in the Ravenclaw. The hat did almost sort Harry into Slytherin after all.

[@graf]

some spells later on in the books get closer to correct latin, like "vulnera sanentur" expecto patronum first appeared in the 3rd book, but those are only two examples.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Interesting! Do you think JKR did this deliberately?

[@chideraalexanderdex547]

@@polyMATHY_Luke I think so, the British do place value on Latin and she seems to know it at least a bit, dumbledore's first name is Albus, Snape's first name is Severus(and he is a strict dude) plus spells like expellio armus are similar to what could pass for Latin or what Latin speakers might see as familiar, it's the jamming of the words that makes no sense

[@drogadepc]

There's Imperium too

[@sebastiangudino9377]

@@polyMATHY_Luke I don't think any of her decisions are deliberated...

[@drogadepc]

@@sebastiangudino9377 she studied latin, so I think she deliberated only used latin as a base for the names/chanting of the spells. It could make sense in real life. If wizards and witches did have magical capabilities, they would most likely creat jargons or even a new language.

[@jeannebouwman1970]

It is also interesting that Japanese wizard children first need to learn ancient japanese to be able to speak their spells, so apparently there is some power to the ancient languages

[@luckneh5330]

I think it's partially due to spells being passed down from generations and thus not changing what the spells are. I think that's my theory

[@jeannebouwman1970]

@@luckneh5330 yeah but I wonder why that is more the case in Japan than in Britain, since Hogwarts students don't have to learn Latin to be able to pronounce spells. Maybe it is respect for the past that they keep it rigid?

[@eldricgrubbidge6465]

It's usually"ancient wisdom" and "occult" in the old sense. So it makes sense that it's associated with old languages and runes and things.

[@masalanicholoff3593]

@@jeannebouwman1970 It probably has to do with when and where a spell was invented. The incantation for the Four Point Spell (which turns the user's wand into a compass) is just "point me".

[@michaelheliotis5279]

The words are not even necessary to cast the spells, which they make a bigger point about in the books. The incantations are basically just mnemonics to help the user focus their mind and direct their will in the way that's necessary for the spell. So Masala is probably right that whoever came up with the spell just made up the incantation in whatever language was prevalent at the time and place. And Luke is probably right that as the incantations were used more, the pronunciation evolved a little. It's also established that Latin is pretty much only used in Europe and the Anglosphere because that's the lanugage that was used there historically, and outside of Europe they just use whatever language that happens to have been used there historically.

[@igorfray]

0:57 JK Rowling lived in Portugal while was writing a part of first book, so think that "Oculus reparo" is portuguese trying to look like latin, "Óculos" is actually glasses 🤓 in Portuguese and "reparo" is pronounced in that way in Portuguese 😅😅😅

[@Gab8riel]

It's definitely not pronounced with an English R

[@igorfray]

@@Gab8riel of course the actors are British, even real latin words in the movies comes with a British accent💁🏻‍♂️😂

[@sikeman]

I thought the same thing, I had no idea that she lived in Portugal, so I was quite confused as to why she used Portuguese in that spell hahahaha

[@Nicamon]

@@igorfray I was a bit disappointed to see that in this video he didn't use the italian version of the movies!😅

[@bestexperience3317]

en español REPARO se pronuncia igual, pero Oculus no existe, existe "lentes" o "anteojos"

[@pingu7471]

Kinda dissapointed that even Hermione doesn't know the penultimate stress rule. My day is ruined But in my opinion, for the spells not to be real latin is rather smart. Just imagine how much havoc it would have created if a roman peasant shouts something and suddenly his goat turns into a fine venetian glass cup. Or a roman client would call upon his patron, and suddenly his warthog-patronus appears and scares the shit out of everyone. Let's rather stick with the wannabe-latin please.

[@djat7933]

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day has been ruined.

[@leaf900]

yeah pretty much, if we assume magic hasn't changed that much since around 1000AD with the founding of hogwarts those students would've been fluent Latin speakers. it's deliberately NOT grammatically correct Latin (and why should it be anyway)

[@NH-rn3wz]

Maybe it’s because she has a Greek name and therefore knows Greek much better?

[@depressedaemon]

As long as we are playing with this idea is clearly stated in the books that magic is something that one born with, so if a non wizard would pronounce the correct spell and somehow even holding a magic wand, it would not work.

[@pingu7471]

@@depressedaemon Well, but not all wizards are detected, are they?

[@vytah]

Another word that also derives from "grammatica" is "grimoire", which means "spellbook" and came to English from French. It looks like the same exact association happened at least twice.

[@andreageuna6649]

Harry Potter's "Latin" looks like my grandparents' ecclesiastical Latin. As the great majority of Italians, they were Catholic and attended the weekly mass, but they were almost illiterate (as many Italian peasants used to be). Until 1960s the mass was in Latin and they tried to reproduce the wordings: "ra prenobbi" for "ora pro nobis", "l'era pru veja" (in Piedmontese dialect: "well, she was old", praying for a dead woman...) for "ora pro ea", "benedittu fruttu ventu tu Iesu" for "benedictus fructus ventris tuis Jesus", etc. In Italian popular wordings for a magic spell (in children tales, of course) is "ocus pocus" from "hoc est corpus meum". As far as I know, in Russian magic is "fokus" for this reason

[@cerberaodollam]

"the father, the son, and into the hole he goes" 😂

[@sirknight4981]

@@cerberaodollam Nice to see a fellow Dave Allen enjoyer here. 😎

[@valenesco45]

Cmon Luke...it's LEVIÓSA, not LEVIOSÀ

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

😂😂😂

[@pingu7471]

"You dare use my own spells against me, valenesco45?"

[@dawn8293]

Alternate title: A Latin scholar spends 13 minutes trying to convince himself (and us) that it doesn't matter that Harry Potter's Latin is so bafflingly bad. 10/10 would watch again. I love this stuff

[@DieFlabbergast]

Given that it's a fictional universe in which magic exists, it would be very odd if the language WERE correct Latin.

[@dawn8293]

I can get behind that, although the British English seems to be correct, and the names of all the countries, and other things seem pretty similar. But the books never claim that the spells are in Latin. It is my headcannon that 1. When spells are created, the creator of the spell has full artistic licence on what the spell is called, 2. Most classic spells were invented when using Latin for research was in vogue, 3. It may have been considered bad practice to use real Latin, as it was already a real language that people used for speaking.

[@desanipt]

Honestly, the spells in Harry Potter just sound A LOT like Macaronic Latin. Probably not new information to anyone, but it basically is a code language. It is simply regular modern languages (each modern language builds a Macarronic Latin of its own), adapted to sound like Latin (by randomly adding typical Latin sufixes/case endings to words, using loose Latin syntax and by pronouncing it somewhat like Latin, all while being complety based in regular modern languages). Through the centuries, all through Europe, it was very popular in universities and used in plays and satires for comedic purposes (the goliards are probably some of the first well known users of it). JK Rowling is notourious for having taken a lot of inspiration from Portuguese university traditions when writing Harry Potter. Of course the fact that Latin is viewed as this "mystical" language stands on its own, but I wouldn't be impressed if she was at least a bit influenced by university traditions on that too. Might be just a coincidence but "oculus reparo" sounds a lot like how we could say "repair glasses" in Portuguese Macarronic Latin ("óculos" meaning "glasses" in regular Portuguese). Macarronic Latin based on Portuguese is everywhere on traditional university student groups here in Portugal. There is this "institution" (it's really just the students of each university that stablish it) we call "praxe" [from Latin praxis] that mOsTLy tries to integrate new students (it's polemic...). It comes down to senior students bossing arround freshmen collectively to do the most stupid/comic things all while setting a ton of rules, and making the freshmen pay them huge respect (almost like royal respect). The irony of the amount of rules and respect that is set, all while asking to do stupid things (and the seniors themselves being super bohemiam in all aspects that go beyond setting the rules and the respect) is part of the fun. Latin being the traditional language of institutions of power, law, doctors, religion etc., makes fake Latin immensely fitting with the mood of it all. And it is used in the "praxe" in everything from the written announcements/posters used, to chants, motos, etc. Dvra Praxis Sed Praxis

[@drogadepc]

Yeah, the University of Coimbra, where she studied for some time, was on of her inspirations to create Harry Potter. She was also inspired by the boarding school she went as a teen.

[@desanipt]

@@drogadepc I don't think she ever studied in Coimbra. She did live in Porto (which has a quite lively university life) for quite some years where she was an English teacher (she even got married and had a kid there, not the most fortunate story, though).

[@gabrielmarquestrindade7804]

portugal caralho

[@lilypond5158]

@@drogadepc I remember her saying in an interview that she never went to a boarding school.

[@moondust2365]

If feel like there's also the chance that "oculus reparo" was simply based on Latinized English, "oculus" being a synonym to "glasses" or "eye glass" that's derived from Latin, and "reparo" being a Latinized version of the English word "repair" which I think comes from French.

[@jesusisraelcaudilloramirez6237]

I remember hearing those words in the movies specially expecto patronum, Spanish is my first language so what I hear is "espero/esperando al patron/jefe" basically "waiting for the boss" a very confusing spell and "oculus reparo" sounds like corrective eye surgery.

[@Mary.R.]

Just found this gem of a channel and have been hooked for several hours non-stop! Thanks for the great content. Love everything that you do.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

You're very kind, Mary. Thanks so much for watching.

[@fortunaaudacesiuvat]

It's a book written for Muggles, so obviously she wouldn't reveal the actual Latin spells.

[@lilypond5158]

Naturally

[@kamion53]

So it IS a documentary masked as a novel!!!

[@konkonvulpix8712]

Knowledge of Latin could perhaps provide an interesting new understanding of expecto patronum. It may imply that, unlike most wizard spells where one waves a wand and makes something happen through one’s own magical ability, the spell potentially relies upon an external entity that you call and await its aid in a form that best suits you, like an ancient deity or spirit in real life magical rituals. Harry Potter is a warlock.

[@AlbonitumG]

Stumbled upon your channel a few days ago, you really make me want to start learning Latin.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

You should! I have lots of materials on my other channel ScorpioMartianus

[@AlbonitumG]

@@polyMATHY_Luke I will check it out, thanks!

[@PodcastItaliano]

Awesome as always!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Grazie, Davide!

[@caimansaurus5564]

luke you should really consider doing more linguistics-focused vids, like e.g the different variants of spoken latin that diverged into the modern romance languages, or proto-italic -> latin evolution, or the purported link between celtic and italic languages, or the different variants of "standard latin" in the european middle ages. with your amazing expertise and presentation i think tons of people would love that - there's a big audience on youtube for deep-dive linguistics videos. i really enjoy your work!

[@christiano.bryanblancobarr6183]

5:12 I think Lockhart is actually saying “volat et ascendere” which could translate to “he flies and to ascend”

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Alarte_Ascendare

[@DieFlabbergast]

... which does not make sense.

[@UltraVega924]

I randomly watched a video from this channel the other day. Somehow, one video turned into many. Unexpectedly won me over. Had to subscribe.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Awesome! Thanks so much!

[@aerolchristopherinfante]

I was just wondering this, and yet here you are.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

🧙‍♂️

[@AleksandrPodyachev]

Can you make a video on attempts to modernize Latin so that it can be used in the modern day to talk about modern items, like cars, telephones, and computers?

[@whukriede]

The Vatican does this.

[@marcusdowning]

The Vatican's dictionary has words for 'spaceship', 'radiation', 'password'... I'd like to hear your opinion on it.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

I have indeed kzbin.info/www/bejne/iV7WZIqcmdllr5o

[@rev.athanasius]

In fact as it had been mentioned J.K.R. is well educated in Classics and it is all quite a lot deliberate. And there are in fact a Latin and an Ancient Greek translation of the first book of the series which were made after her request. Thanks for your videos.

[@omegacardboard5834]

I believe the the second one is also available in Latin as well

[@katarinawikholm5873]

The first one is available in Welsh too

[@katarinawikholm5873]

@@omegacardboard5834 Yes, I own both, and Hobbitus llle and Winnie ille Pu

[@Reubentheimitator6572]

@@katarinawikholm5873 I own Winnie Ille Pu.

[@rp1692]

It makes sense that she would invent new words and senses, but I do wonder why she didn't attempt the correct case for "oculus".

[@herpyderpy2869]

Me, a Potterhead and language enthusiast (with bias to Latin): Who has summoned me?

[@robertotamagnini4891]

I did classical secondary school , studied latin and ancient greek - and I really enjoyed your lesson ! gratias tibi ! ( thankyou ! ) Grazie ! 🙂

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Grazie per averlo guardato!

[@daughterofeveandhateroflil2683]

Also "Gratias tibi" means "Grace to you" and that's where the English word "gratitude" comes from

[@leahbunny92]

I have quite the obsession with Harry Potter, and this was a very interesting and informative video to watch. Thank you!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks for watching and sharing!

[@craighughes536]

Great costume Luke.. Great review of my local school students (it was filmed in my city of Glevum) ...

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks, Craig!

[@robjj4769]

GOTCHA!!!!! Fantastico un video su Harry Potter ed il latino. STUPEFICIUM per adesso e alla prossima volta, Luke. 👍😁😁👋👋

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Grazie mille, Rob!

[@samuelterry6354]

Interestingly one of the few spells not based on Latin is Avada Kedavra; which is actually Aramaic.

[@bacicinvatteneaca]

Isn't kedavra based on cadaver?

[@chrisrudolf9839]

@@bacicinvatteneaca No, it is based on the Aramaic words that are discussed as a probable origin of the real world "magic" word Abrakadabra

[@marioluigi9599]

Don't forget "Point me". Otherwise how to find north?

[@samuelterry6354]

I think it means "Let it be destroyed".

[@DieFlabbergast]

That's a stretch. Wiktionary says "No supporting evidence." Wiktionary: From Late Latin abracadabra, a word used in magical writings, of uncertain origin. Relationships have been suggested with Abraxas (a Gnostic deity), and with various Aramaic or Hebrew terms עברא כדברא‎ (avra kedavra, literally “what was said has come to pass”), עַבְדָא כְּדַברָא‎ (avda kedavara, literally “what was said has been done”); ארבע-אחד-ארבע‎ (arba-eḥad-arba, literally “four-one-four”),[1] but there is little supporting evidence.

[@djat7933]

Didn't know this until recently, but J.K. Rowling has a BA in classics.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

In that case her inventions were surely quite deliberate

[@cahallo5964]

@@polyMATHY_Luke or she was a terrible student

[@goergops9593]

Grammar Translation GONE WRONG

[@omegacardboard5834]

Yeah her stories are quite mythological. It makes sense

[@djat7933]

@@goergops9593 This made me spit out my water LOL

[@landofw56]

Nesciebam originem verbi "glamour" . Gratias, magister, tua doctrina.

[@tiagorodrigues3730]

Quod facit verba "glamour" et "grimoire" cognata... Quomodo dicitur "doublet" Latine?

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Allotropon

[@carlavlund5841]

Even if it was for just a brief fraction of a second, it made me happy to hear you just mentioning the word “conlang”. Have you ever delved into the world of conlanging at all? Great video as always, and as we say in conlanging: Fiat Lingua!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

I have; I mostly spend my time on natural languages though.

[@paulstewart1557]

I loved you almost gagging on the expelliarmus spell ... priceless!

[@LuisSantos-us1ww]

Thank you for the video. My students knew the expression "Expecto Patronum" from the Harry Potter movie. That was the only expression that they knew from Latin, beside "Et pluribus unum" that's the words for Benfica, a football portuguese team. Gratias tibi ago.

[@giapwnezikh.omeleta]

This video brought back really weird memories...I used to have a proffessor in latin, in university, who loved Harry Potter. So, in the final exams the test, which was supposed to be a small passage that we had to translate from latin to greek and vice versa, was a chapter from Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone (Harrius Potter et philosophie lapis)...Dark days, those were dark days...

[@cellohoch]

I grew up with Harry Potter franchise, starting with the movies, going deeper with the books. This made-up Latinised spells really fascinated me to the point of going to study Latin and Ancient Greek by myself as a hobby, which gave me a rich perspective on my native language (Portuguese). I don’t know if the author had this aim at first but it turned out this way for me, this Dog Latin served to me as a door to new knowledge.

[@jorgencaceres7945]

It is so interesting how our demeanour changes when we switch languages - I know I sound and even look different when I speak Italian or Spanish than when I speak English or Swedish, for example. But even the voice changes, and Luke is showing it very clearly - you get a totally different voice when you speak Latin! :D That said, to be nerdy: the words for the spells aren't really necessary. They're just a sort of crutch, to "verbalise" the spell and to enhance the intended effect of the spell. Same thing with the wand: it wouldn't really be necessary but is a good thing to have when you want to focus the force of the spell. A good sorcerer would be able to do stuff by just "looking at it" :) So therefore, the words have during the years become garbled while having been handed down by more or less thorough teachers. :) And it looks good on film :D Arvëdse 'n autra vota! :D

[@Kolious_Thrace]

Great video!!! Anyone knew that the spells in HP are in Latin but no one ever searched about it! You hear endings like -us -um and you’re sure that’s Latin😂😂😂 Yeah, I think JKRowling said that she just used the very veryyyy basic from what she remembered form the Latin courses in school! All the others are just made-up for her magic world! She searched in Botanology texts for botanical terms and also, she studied the mythology of several countries to create all those magical creatures! I think she used two Greek terms as spells! Anàpneo / αναπνέω: to breath underwater Epíski / επισκευή: to repair something

[@ConsciousEntrepeneur]

Your videos put a smile to my face 😄👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 🐉✨❤

[@danyf.1442]

The Hermione Granger in me couldn't be happier for this video! Sectumsempra is my favorite sounding spell, it is pretty straightforward and the meaning easy to guess as well, even if it is not proper latin ☺

[@ancientromewithamy]

Fun. It did weird me out sometimes. I shared this video with my old philosophy professor, who taught a philosophy class inspired by the series years ago, though, haha. Good stuff.

[@marodrey]

HAHAHAHAHAHA ! It never occurred to me that the HP series had any Latin in them! But thank you a million times. It really sounds funny!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks for watching, Mani!

[@marodrey]

@@polyMATHY_Luke Thank YOU!!! Tremendous effort!

[@neopoulpa]

Η μεγαλύτερη μαγεία είναι η γλωσσοπλασία. Τhanks for your videos, they are all great.

[@AlessioZocker]

I think it's not "alarte" in 5:11 I instead understood him saying: "volate" so I guess it was intended to be derived from the latin word "volare" for to fly and therefore in context with "volate ascendere" to be meant as "to fly up/ hurl up" as we can see happining in the scene. So much about my explanation^^ Huge fan, nice content as always, keep it up. I am looking forward for the next one :)

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Alarte_Ascendare

[@AlessioZocker]

@@polyMATHY_Luke I guess u were right. I even put in the subtitles and indeed it says "alarte" however I can't help it to hear "volate" probably my biased mind there hahah :)

[@isabellaxanthi]

Γραμματική -> grammatica -> grammar -> glamour Really interesting in my opinion, I wouldn't have guessed that 😂 Great video as always!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Thanks!

[@shellyharry8189]

Excellent video! May I offer another explanation for using Latin in magical spells? Nowadays, Latin is still used in medicine, law and religion, three areas where the lingo can be intimidating or confusing to an outsider. Additionally, practitioners in these areas are typically well educated. If you're going to cast a spell, wouldn't the spell caster be someone from one of these backgrounds, people who in their everyday jobs already use a secret language? (I'm a nurse, but I swear I've never intentionally cast a spell 😉). I enjoy your videos! They're extremely well researched and enjoyable to watch!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Very kind! Thanks for the comment

[@mothersmilkltd4329]

Gran canal. Y con un poco de Mozart para aderezarlo. Gracias por tu trabajo y buena suerte.

[@stscallop3254]

I love these videos.

[@Baccatube79]

Actually, "vertere", or better, "verti" in the mediopassive mood, in the meaning of "to change shape, to transfigure", has a certain poetic tradition. "Vertere, vertere/Formose Proteu" is found in the Enthusiasms of Iacobus Balde (Ode 39). Not classical, I know, still it IS possible, and I am pretty sure that Balde himself picked up that line somewhere.

[@amyrabjork7468]

Rowlings classics degree influenced the plot more than the correctness of the "latin" in Harry Potter. Still the mythological references were the ones that got me interested in Roman mythology that eventually ended up in my current obsession with actual latin. Thanks for the video! Brilliant as always.

[@jeanaclausen9019]

I think part of it is due to the meaning behind the words of a spell. There are some witches and wizards in the Harry Potter universe that can perform spells without saying the incantation.

[@АлександрПавленко-ю6х]

Just fell in love with this amazing guy!you are a living motivation to go on with latin...

[@KnicksBasketball96]

I was actually just thinking about this the other day after hearing a random Harry potter spell. It didn’t sound natural at all to me haha

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Haha nope. I tried to rationalize it as best I could.

[@NH-rn3wz]

Good job on beating Hannibal BTW…he was a real pain in the ass

[@ItsMeAnn628]

What a fun video! I’ll have to check out your other movie Latin episodes!

[@JoulesPerRadian]

Oh my god. Thank you so much for the "monk's reward" at the end. 🤣🤣🤣

[@MrHermes3331]

I am going to expect these videos every week 😂 your sense of humor gives me life

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Haha thanks! I actually didn't put a lot of jokes into this one; I just did my best to veil my condescension towards the "bad" "Latin" of the series. 😂 Hopefully that was sufficiently risible.

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

2:45 "fera verto" in Esperanto means "an iron top".

[@valacarno]

Hey, Luke, thank you for the amazing content -- it's been truly a great discovery for me lately. 🙏🥰 I'd like to share my observation about the spell, which is raising a snake in the air at 5:11 . I glanced quickly over the comments, and I haven't find anyone mentioning. I clearly hear the actor saying: "Volate ascendare", which would make it quite logical then, right? Based on my humble knowledge of Latin, it would make an almost proper imperative (though in plural) "fly up ascending!" -- "Volāte ascendēns!" "ascendere!" could be something like "be lifted!", perhaps. I don't know anything about the universe, and I haven't watched the films, nor have I read the books, so I don't know how this spell is spelt correctly (oops, no pun intended), but maybe it will help to clarify this for someone. 😊

[@valacarno]

A-and, of course, as soon as I have posted my comment I find the one, where it has been discussed already. 😆🤦‍♂️ Together with your helpful link to the HP wiki, where I also found that this topic has raised discussions amongst the fandom. Which begs the question: Maybe the actor changed the spell deliberately? 🤔

[@XDarkAllNightX]

I'm guessing Perspicilla is the reason why in Portuguese (Brazil) we have the word Perspicaz, which usually refers to someone who has a keen eye to things, or who seems/sounds smart. Somewhere along the line the usage of glasses might have associated with been smart, thus this evolution. 5:20 Almost makes me wonder if J.K had someone who spoke Portuguese helping her, since we have the word Acender which means "Light up" or "turn on" as in light up the fire or turn on the light, which in some cases could be used as lighting something or someone on fire

[@JohnFallot]

Speaking of films & franchises: a dive into film soundtracks that use Latin would be fascinating. I know that “Kingdom of Heaven” (2005) employs a bit of Latin = e.g. Burning the Past is a choir singing: ‘Ave regina caelorum/ ave domina angelorum/ salve radix salve porta/ ex qua mundo lux est orta.’

[@jakevachon8948]

I have to point out that for "Fera Verto" she might have meant "Beast Cup". In French 'Vert' means cup/glass and I think that might have been what she was going for seeing as he was turning the "beast" into a "cup"? That's just what I always took from it since I was young.

[@Remy-lv5il]

Going out on a limb: expecto patronum could mean waiting for your patron (patronus - the animal that saves you from the dementors)

[@rationaltrekker2509]

When I first encountered the patronus concept in HP, I immediately thought of the ancient concept of patron deity, which was modified in Xianity to apply to patron saints - protectors of sort, which is what a patronus in HP is - a protector of sorts. To me, the expecto patronum spells in HP is the one that rings most true as not only a Latin language phrase, but something conceptually authentic to an older world, which the wizarding world is supposed to be more closely tied to than the modern Muggle world.

[@He_Who_Shapes]

Magic spells always have been one of the most exciting and mysterious topics in HP world! Really great video, with cool examples of the spells & brilliant explanations. Yet some of the spells remained unexplained :( In particular, I`ve been always wondering what is the meaning of the spell, used by Gilderoy Lockhart (The Chamber of Secrets), when he tried to cure Harry`s hand after the quidditch match. One of my favourite scenes!

[@yrooxrksvi7142]

It gets even more interesting when you check the spells used in the books and videogames. Carpe Retractum, Glacius, Avifors/Draconifors/Lapifors, Incendio, Diffindo, Expulso, Confringo, Protego, Depulso.

[@RingsOfSolace]

I only know English and Spanish but I find it interesting that the verb "wait" is found in English "expect", but based on how you used it, it seems that it's used similarly to the Spanish word for "wait", "hope" or "expect", the word *"esperar"*. So it's not as phonetically similar, but it is used for those things.

[@eldricgrubbidge6465]

You should do all the Latin in Terry pratchett some time. Like the legal terms in the wee free men or the motto of the city watch.

[@itselissanotalyssa]

YESS!!!!!! I've always wondered this!

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Haha thanks for watching, Elissa!

[@annafirnen4815]

Watching your videos makes me realize how much Latin words we have today in my native language, Polish. And I don't mean only the obvious ones related to science. We call glasses "okulary", quite similar to "ocularia" if you ask me. Also we use the word "bestia" for a "beast".

[@Michail_Chatziasemidis]

6:20 That reminds of how spell names change in Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games to be more powerful, e.g. Fire → Fira → Firaga, Blizzard → Blizzara → Blizzaga, Thunder → Thundara → Thundaga etc.

[@danielapazvillalobos4446]

Buenísimo, no sólo por la temática, también por tus gestos! 🤣🤣🤣

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Jaja gracias 🤓

[@SantiYounger]

Another epic video. Being a huge Harry Potter fan I always thought lumus was correct Latin, Lumen it is, thanks hahah

[@sunnydivino]

OMG!i started re watching the movies and I started with the books for the first time a couple weeks ago and now this 😍

[@TheLaur1995]

I would love to see a video just like this but with Supernatural spells instead!!! Love your content!

[@DukeCyrus]

I still like that they do take inspiration at the very least

[@gustavo_gouveia]

All the words make sente for me, Portuguese speaker. Oculus reparo - Reparo de óculos (glasses repare). Leviosa - levitar (levitate). Fera verto - converter a fera (convert the beast). Expelliarmus - arma de expelir (expelling weapon) Vipera evanesca - Víbora Evaneça (informal evanescer: viper desapear). Lumos - luminosidade, luz (light). Expecto patronum - espectro do patrono (image of a Patron or special guardian).

[@NH-rn3wz]

As always Mr. Luke Sir a funny and informative video

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@corrywhatever3516]

I thought this was Pseudo Latin, and was told it was "Real" Latin. I didn't know enough to argue. Thanks for the clarity.

[@hobozero]

There's an interesting connection between glamor/grammar and magical spells. The English verb to spell (as in to write a word with the correct letters) is related to a spell (a magical incantation). Medieval English speakers seeing latin, or even the vernacular written down would have called it spelling for the same reasons that glamor got it's vampire meaning.

[@MichaelPhillipsatGreyOwlStudio]

As I recall, the fantasy movie Dragonslayer (1982) used a lot of Latin. I always wondered if it was accurately pronounced. I caught one passage in particular in which the main character enchanted a spear: "Nunc, per Potestatem Hermeticum, ex flammis, ferrum sanguinarium!" There were many other examples of spells chanted in Latin though.

[@MichaelPhillipsatGreyOwlStudio]

I think I would loosely translate it as "By the hermetic powers, from the flames, a bloody iron."

[@festerburg87]

Thanks for all your videos! Icelandic folk charms in the early modern period would use fake Latin (clearly intended to sound like Eucharistic prayers) to help give them more magical power. Also, the etymological connection between "grammatica" and "grimmoire" should be considered in the context of magical power.

[@larsulrich2761]

J. K. Rowling actually had the first two Harry Potter books translated and printed in Latin. They are Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis and Harrius Potter et Camera Secretorum. Both books as of this posting in Feb of 2023 are still available on Amazon. It would be really interesting if Polymathy would do a review on them.

[@zzjlgb]

Never thought of an occasion where Expecto Patronum fits perfectly like that...

[@D3NPC]

I've just started working on a sort of conlang based off of Latin for my cats (Specifically my black cat who definitely looks like they could speak Hebrew or Latin if they were human) I call it emprum cattum which means cat empire. I only did this because I recently started learning Latin, got really interested, and then made the conlang. It doesn't sound exactly like Latin in some cases, and then a lot like Latin in others. (From what I know) I really like Latin and if I wasn't already learning Spanish so I can at least have a language on my plate, I would totally learn more!

[@yeo4725]

7:30 I don't want to argue, but I think incatations should just be short phrases, if he specified a spell it would be "I really hope something glittering will take these black stuff away, thx". "I expect a protector." sounds cool and short.

[@65fhd4d6h5]

Why does the /t/ in "De vulgari eloquentia" sound like an /s/? (11:23)

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

It’s the traditional Italian pronunciation of the title, and I used it for that reason

[@65fhd4d6h5]

@@polyMATHY_Luke Ah, I see! I thought perhaps in classical Latin, T's in those particular positions were pronounced like /s/, and that's why in most Romance languages they've become /z/, /s/ or /θ/. Thank you. :)

[@bohbohbohwut]

I didn't know glamour comes from grammar! Thanks!

[@BryanCarthell]

When I first saw expecto patronum, I figured it meant “I hope for a protector”. Referencing Spanish esperar to wait or to hope, but as you say, it’s all fun.

[@yakitatefreak]

Alchemy in the context wasn't explored much after the middle ages because it became modern chemistry when we found out how certain materials worked. A lasting legacy on this is that chemists use Latin names for many if not all of the metals in the periodic table whether you know it or not. A great example of this is K for potassium, which was Kalium in Latin. Sodium is Na for Natrium. Iron is Ferrum (Fe). And so forth...

[@isaacjeterphotography]

I might be totally off, but with "fera verto" I was thinking of the french verb to do or make which is "faire" (or in its conjugation fera is "will make") and the word for drinking glass "verre" equaling "to make glass/will make glass"

[@hensenstratovdiehard231]

An amazing video! Why so? In Ukrainian we have a word "Вертеп" [vertep], which we use to speak about Christmas Eve performance conducted by mostly kids and teens in villages in Ukraine. One of them could wear a goat costume, another holds a stick with a star on the top, other sing koliadas ( carols). So know I see that "Вертеп" has a Latin origin. Cool, isn't it?)))

[@hensenstratovdiehard231]

@Maksym Yaromych (SOFTSERVE)Згоден з тобою, парубче ( або панно)

[@Devarunable]

Lots of love for Latin 💖

[@Tubomiro]

3:57 loved those facial expressions Lol 😂.

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

🤓

[@undevicesimus19]

Hi, Luke. Thank you for this! Could you also do the examination on Netflix's Sabrina incantations? Many of them, surprisingly, are in Latin. *Edit: Many of them...

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

I shall. The original Sabrina with Clarissa explains it all or the new one?

[@undevicesimus19]

@@polyMATHY_Luke I have only watched the latest series. But other versions (if there are ones) seem interesting, too!

[@akizaizayoi4763]

Hey Luke! This might sound offensive but I am actually way worse in creating my own Latin magic spells. Hehe. In my case, I would literally chant out any words that comes in my mind and make sure they end in "us". E.g. "Mucus succus bluccus glucus septus ambus migus blagadus julius quantus bonus chorus!" Because I noticed that most Latin words and names often end in "us". And often when mentioning the etymology of an English word, they often go "it comes from the Latin word .....us meaning *insert meaning here*".

[@borgheis]

5:11 I think the first word he pronounces is "volate"; he pronounces it more clearly in the Italian dubbing of the movie, like "volate ascendere" or something like that. And it's always made sense to me as an Italian, because then the snake proceeds to literally fly in the air and fall down again, so he "vola" (flies) and "(a)scende" (gets back down)

[@polyMATHY_Luke]

harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Alarte_Ascendare

[@borgheis]

@@polyMATHY_Luke Interesting, and listening to it closely it sounds like he's pronouncing "alarte" as if he were saying "all-arte", so it would make sense for me to mistake it for "volate". Anyway I'm quite sure in the Italian dub he's saying "volate", the voice actors probably understood it that way as well.

[@borgheis]

@@polyMATHY_Luke kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2qXn2SphL-qm5Y Here's the Italian dub, he definitely says "volate ascenderai", which grammatically speaking is wrong but still understandable.

[@barrigudo00]

A língua Latina tem esse peso de fascínio. Qualquer coisa em latim parece soar melhor.

[@lllllllll3917]

Vc sabe me dizer como ficaria "Tudo isso vai acabar lógo" Em latin???

[@lllllllll3917]

@@neroclaudius7573 Esquece éssa, Vc sabe me dizer como ficaria "No final de tudo,Isso realmente não importa" em latim?