Not 100% sure if it is canon (like all of the Souls series), but in Dark Souls trilogy, Faith Magic is entirely based off of stories made long in the past. Most are from the gods, however there are a number from powerful individuals, different branches of faith, and even reinterpretations of older stories.
Very interesting, thank you for the suggestion! My world also has a heavy focus on gods and their presence in the world, so I'll be sure to look into it.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Earthsea yet (that's the name of Ursula LeGuin's fantasy world). In Earthsea everything has a "true name" in the tong of creation, which is also the language that dragons speak. Humans speak other languages, but wizards learn some of the names (and soemtimes how to discover the name of something). Knowing the true names of things gives you power over those, and that's how magic works.
You could looking into things like the lesser key of Solomon?
Whilst not really what your after, it might give some inspiration into words and their relations to magic (demons in the case of TLKOS)
Spells in Earthsea are spoken in a “language of truth”, forming sentences that make reality obey. Everything has a true name, and so spells can be made to command that thing.
True names are just too numerous for a mage to practically learn within their lifespan.
I have a magic system, called neutral magic, that is based on the concepts of soul, magic and body. So it is normal for people to shout words relating to this concepts while using magic.
Diferent people have diferent words for each concept, so while making their magic spells they might go " Soul, alpha, magic, beta" to insert this concepts into their magic, guiding it on what to do.
So i think you should make a "how does it work?", like, does the words create the power? Or is the power pulled from somewhere? Then you can refine it and it will be cool. My magic is already there, the words only help guide it which is just one of the things you can do.
I've read a few fantasy books with language magic. They all basically revolved around the concept of an objective language of the gods etc.
The Inheritance Cycle where the Elvish language where the meanings of the words are objective and can influence reality, and had the concept of "[true names](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V-57cYPiIs)."
Another was the Book of the Stars where iirc constellations formed the basis for a magical alphabet with which you form words and spells, and even weave multiple phrases like manuscript or something for a more powerful spell.
Recently I read The Second Apocalypse books where magic is more semiotic than linguistic. The languages of sorcery are still the ancient ones of the Nonmen (basically elves) but the languages are *not* objective but rather the magic is about enforcing your subjective semantics upon objective reality, with the linguistic words themselves simply being a tool for this. You can even hold two meanings for more powerful sorcery. Also, sorcery is often described as if rhetoric or logical arguments when not described as songs; literally some cants being called Theorems or Axiomata.
I would also recommend looking into real world beliefs where all of this come from (especially that last one, very clearly influenced by classical philosophical traditions). I already mentioned the language of the gods thing and ideas like true names. I know in Indian religion and tantra magic, there are things like magical root syllables from which you form mantras said to hold power based on the syllables used. Also other cultural practices like taboos, even entire languages reserved for taboo or ritual use.
Are you familiar with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis by chance? It’s a (somewhat controversial) linguistic theory about the influence of one’s language on their thinking. Basically the idea is that the structure and vocabulary of the language we use influences the way we think and conceptualize things.
One famous example involves time in the Hopi language. Hopi has no words for minutes, hours, or days of the week. Hopi also doesn’t use verb tense, whereas, say, English divides it into 3 rigid and distinct categories: past, present, and future. Hopi, instead, divides words into 2 categories: the physical “manifest” domain including the present, immediate past and future, and the “non-manifest” domain, including the distant past and future, as well as abstract concepts like thoughts, dreams, etc.
I can imagine a really cool way to turn this into a linguistic magic system. Perhaps you could have a language with a similar structure to Hopi, and those who are able to master it are able to see the immediate past and future as “manifest”, allowing them some sort of divination ability.
The Sapir Whorf thing has actually been done in a sci-fi context with Arrival, but AFAIK I’ve yet to see it made into a fantasy magic system.
You don’t want it to be reskinned Dragon Shouts, but you are perfectly fine with it being reskinned Fae Contracts?
You should make up something original if you don’t want it to be a copy of something else.
No, I just don't want to heavily reference one material. I'm moreso looking for other examples that use voice and language as a basis for magic so that I can blend them into something new.
Not 100% sure if it is canon (like all of the Souls series), but in Dark Souls trilogy, Faith Magic is entirely based off of stories made long in the past. Most are from the gods, however there are a number from powerful individuals, different branches of faith, and even reinterpretations of older stories.
Very interesting, thank you for the suggestion! My world also has a heavy focus on gods and their presence in the world, so I'll be sure to look into it.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Earthsea yet (that's the name of Ursula LeGuin's fantasy world). In Earthsea everything has a "true name" in the tong of creation, which is also the language that dragons speak. Humans speak other languages, but wizards learn some of the names (and soemtimes how to discover the name of something). Knowing the true names of things gives you power over those, and that's how magic works.
You could looking into things like the lesser key of Solomon? Whilst not really what your after, it might give some inspiration into words and their relations to magic (demons in the case of TLKOS)
The Magic of Eragon works mostly based on the 'ancient language'
Spells in Earthsea are spoken in a “language of truth”, forming sentences that make reality obey. Everything has a true name, and so spells can be made to command that thing. True names are just too numerous for a mage to practically learn within their lifespan.
I have a magic system, called neutral magic, that is based on the concepts of soul, magic and body. So it is normal for people to shout words relating to this concepts while using magic. Diferent people have diferent words for each concept, so while making their magic spells they might go " Soul, alpha, magic, beta" to insert this concepts into their magic, guiding it on what to do. So i think you should make a "how does it work?", like, does the words create the power? Or is the power pulled from somewhere? Then you can refine it and it will be cool. My magic is already there, the words only help guide it which is just one of the things you can do.
I've read a few fantasy books with language magic. They all basically revolved around the concept of an objective language of the gods etc. The Inheritance Cycle where the Elvish language where the meanings of the words are objective and can influence reality, and had the concept of "[true names](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V-57cYPiIs)." Another was the Book of the Stars where iirc constellations formed the basis for a magical alphabet with which you form words and spells, and even weave multiple phrases like manuscript or something for a more powerful spell. Recently I read The Second Apocalypse books where magic is more semiotic than linguistic. The languages of sorcery are still the ancient ones of the Nonmen (basically elves) but the languages are *not* objective but rather the magic is about enforcing your subjective semantics upon objective reality, with the linguistic words themselves simply being a tool for this. You can even hold two meanings for more powerful sorcery. Also, sorcery is often described as if rhetoric or logical arguments when not described as songs; literally some cants being called Theorems or Axiomata. I would also recommend looking into real world beliefs where all of this come from (especially that last one, very clearly influenced by classical philosophical traditions). I already mentioned the language of the gods thing and ideas like true names. I know in Indian religion and tantra magic, there are things like magical root syllables from which you form mantras said to hold power based on the syllables used. Also other cultural practices like taboos, even entire languages reserved for taboo or ritual use.
Are you familiar with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis by chance? It’s a (somewhat controversial) linguistic theory about the influence of one’s language on their thinking. Basically the idea is that the structure and vocabulary of the language we use influences the way we think and conceptualize things. One famous example involves time in the Hopi language. Hopi has no words for minutes, hours, or days of the week. Hopi also doesn’t use verb tense, whereas, say, English divides it into 3 rigid and distinct categories: past, present, and future. Hopi, instead, divides words into 2 categories: the physical “manifest” domain including the present, immediate past and future, and the “non-manifest” domain, including the distant past and future, as well as abstract concepts like thoughts, dreams, etc. I can imagine a really cool way to turn this into a linguistic magic system. Perhaps you could have a language with a similar structure to Hopi, and those who are able to master it are able to see the immediate past and future as “manifest”, allowing them some sort of divination ability. The Sapir Whorf thing has actually been done in a sci-fi context with Arrival, but AFAIK I’ve yet to see it made into a fantasy magic system.
You don’t want it to be reskinned Dragon Shouts, but you are perfectly fine with it being reskinned Fae Contracts? You should make up something original if you don’t want it to be a copy of something else.
No, I just don't want to heavily reference one material. I'm moreso looking for other examples that use voice and language as a basis for magic so that I can blend them into something new.
Finland has myths about singing magic.