In Henry Rider: Clown Hunter, magic is literally the force of creation. Once you know how to control it, you can use it to make anything you want, both physically and even mentally/spiritually/emotionally. There are no magic words in the sense that saying them out loud will cast spells, but some people will chant a certain word as a mantra to help them clear their minds and concentrate. Right now, the word my character uses is aedificare, Latin for "to build," but now that I'm reworking it to be a MG novel instead of YA I'm wondering if maybe I should use a different, less complicated word. What do you guys think? Any suggestions?
I suppose a hero would wants something positive and constructive, but more mellifluous . How about a musical term, like glissando (to join notes)?
That's not much less complicated than aedificare. I'm looking for something that translates into being about creating, making, or building, but that a middle grader won't stumble over when they read it.
I was thinking a lot of them take music lessons, so those words might be familiar. You could pull up a dictionary of building terms and choose something you like.
To inspire means to breathe life into, and a common way to translate words from English into Latin (but not always) is just to drop the final N (from words ending in a 'tion', like Coagulatio, Sublimatio, Calcinatio, Solutio—all of which are terms for the stages of alchemy). So it would be Inspiratio. The ending pronounced like "Aaht-See-Oh". Fairly simple since it's the english word Inspiration, just without the N.
Why not just use actual words. "Create" "Destroy" "Burn" Equally, don't underestimate the intelligence of middle graders. The Hogworts school motto is in Latin.
As a middle schooler who constantly sang music lyrics under her breath, I feel like a rhyme/mantra isn't amiss either. An old sounding not quite latin but not quite modern english chant is good or, if it's just to clear your head and doesn't really need to mean anything then nursery rhymes you can repeat without doubt are a double creepy/funny combo.
I agree I think, unless there's a personal history of the character loving latin for some reason, it should be something simpler. I don't know if you like this suggestion, but the first thing that jumped into my mind was maybe a nice memory of the young MC playing a game with a sibling or friend where they invent a magical superhero like character named "Create-O" or something similarly silly. For some reason it's the only word that helps the MC get the magic out, so he/she is stuck with it. Just an idea that makes it more personal and has some MG vibes.
Personally I don't think that you should worry if the words sounds complex - as long as you explain what it means. If anything having a more unique/complex term will be more memorable and less confusing. For example, I remember reading the 'Eragon' books around middle grade and I will never forget some of the words for spells even if they were unusual such as 'brisngr' (old Norse word that means fire). To be honest I think just choose a word that means what you want, and is memorable. Might help as well if you said how the word was pronounced in the book - just so the reader can imagine saying it - which helps it become more accessible.
