[HPforGrownups] Latin

[Doreen]

No: HPFGUIDX 12558



  It's been a long time since I took Latin, but a lot of JKR's 
  incantations don't look quite correct.  Perhaps that's intentional.  
  For example:

  "expecto patronum" - should be "patronem" - 3rd decl. acc.

  "priori incantatem" - should be "incantatum"; I'm not sure that the 
  agreement between "priori" and "incantat[u]m" is correct

  "expelliarmus" - "armus" = "shoulder" (vulgate and neo-Latin); 
  weapons would be "armamentum"

  I notice that some of the above have been "corrected" in the French 
  version.  Of course, Rowling was probably just inventing Latinate-
  sounding phrases that English-speaking readers would readily 
  understand...

  -Jim Flanagan

  In an interview with JKR, she was asked about this. She said that she made up all the words for her spells. They just "appear" to be Latin. 


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