The Speech

SPOKEN BY

The Speech is spoken by wizards when they are casting spells in novels by Diane Duane. While non-wizards can speak the language also, their spells are ineffective.

DOCUMENTED BY

Diane Duane (1952– ) has written nine books about Nita and Kit, two young wizards who do battle with The Lone Power. Their struggle to use The Speech to defeat evil is chronicled in So You Want to Be a Wizard (1983), Deep Wizardry (1985), High Wizardry (1990), A Wizard Abroad (1993), The Wizard’s Dilemma (2001), A Wizard Alone (2002), Wizard’s Holiday (2003), Wizards at War (2005), and A Wizard of Mars (2010).

BEHIND THE WORDS

In the library, Nita Callahan finds a book called So You Want to Be a Wizard. That night, she takes the Wizard’s Oath, and the next morning she finds her name in the book.

A TASTE OF THE LANGUAGE

afállonë (noun)—the lost city of Atlantis

asdurrafrith (noun)—a species that doesn’t believe in aliens

hrasht (noun)—cousin; also what wizards call each other

hwatha-t (noun)—cavity

mathrára (noun)—fox

thelefeh (noun)—friend

PHILOLOGICAL FACT

image Diane Duane, besides writing a large number of science fiction and fantasy novels for adults and young readers, has worked extensively in television. She was the coauthor of one of the earliest scripts for Star Trek: The Next Generation—the episode titled “Where No One Has Gone Before,” in which the Enterprise travels beyond the galaxy and back.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Review the works listed above, the resources listed in the bibliography, and the web page: “Speech words” (http://youngwizards.livejournal.com/82231.html).

IN PRAISE OF AMBIGUITY

A goal of many constructed languages is to do away with ambiguity, to create a situation where speakers are forced to say what they mean and mean what they say.

Would you really want to bring home somebody to meet your parents in that situation?

“Mom, Dad, this is Janice, with whom I am sleeping, but whom I’d never actually marry. Janice, this is my mom, who wishes I’d get a real job, as if her secret drinking counts as one, and my dad, who will spend dinner trying to look down your shirt.”

SPEAKING OF LANGUAGES

Language is a virus from outer space.

—William S. Burroughs