The Phonetics of Magic Syllables (Ultima V)

These syllables are the basis of the magic spells as used in Ultima V. They are interesting for the understanding of the Gargish language, because the Gargish alphabet is based on phonetic sounds. The importance of the following table was first shown by Minstrel Dragon. It should be noted, that the Gargish runes are substituted by their equivalent modern characters. Note that the Gargish characters ng and zh are written as a single rune.

Syllable	Idea	Sound	Gargish Writing
AN	negate	ah n	an
BET	small	b eh t	bet
CORP	death	k oar p	korp
DES	down	d eh ss	des
EX	freedom	x	eks
FLAM	flame	fl ah m	flam
GRAV	energy	gr ah v	grav
HUR	wind	h oo r	hur
IN	create	ih n	in
KAL	invoke	k ah l	kal
LOR	light	l oa r	lor
MANI	life	m ah n ee	mani
NOX	poison	n ah ks	naks
POR	movement	p oar	por
QUAS	illusion	kw ah ss	kuas
REL	change	r eh l	rel
SANCT	protection	s aa ng kt	sae(ng)kt
TYM	time	t ih m	tim
UUS	up	oo ss	uus
VAS	great	v ah ss	vas
WIS	knowledge	w ee ss	uis
XEN	creature	z eh n	(zh)en
YLEM	matter	aye l eh m	ailem
ZU	sleep	z oo	zu

In the era of Ultima VI ancient syllables and spells were rediscovered, obviously closely linked to the Gargish language. The pronounciation of these syllables is not sure, but if we compare with the Gargish words, the following table is quite assuring:

Syllable	Idea	Sound	Gargish Writing
JUX	danger	j oo ks	juks
ORT	magic	oa rt	ort

Another important role in Gargish language play the mantras an Avatar must know to pray in the ancient shrines of Britannia. The mantras are associated with the virtues the Britannian society used to consider important.

Mantra	Virtue	Sound	Gargish Writing
AHM	Honesty	ah m	am
MU	Compassion	m oo	mu
RA	Valor	r ah	ra
CAH	Sacrifice	k ah	kah
BEH	Justice	b eh	beh
SUMM	Honor	ss oo m	summ
OM	Spirituality	oh m	om
LUM	Humility	l oo m	lum
MUL	Pride	m oo l	mul

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Updated 25-Feb-97 Martin Brenner