The Power, the Magic, and the Mystery of the Word

"Opening it entirely at random -- to any page, any paragraph, any sentence -- I feel at once in the presence of the miraculous, awakened once again to the power, the magic and the mystery of the word." —Jonathan Yardley, describing Vladimir Nabokov's Speak, Memory.

Inuck-Ch-Uck

This is a magic word of transformation spoken by the character Apache Chief in the television series The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977).

Good Questions

Jonathan Jones wonders if being greedy for meaning kills the life of language. "Whereas to go with the sounds and crystallizations of the language is to be alive to the magic and revelatory moments?"

Ha-Ya-Ba-Ra-La

Origins:  The magic word ha-ya-ba-ra-la is of Indian origin.

Facts:  This word is the equivalent to abracadabra.  It was popularized by children’s writer Sukumar Roy (d. 1923).

In Literature:

Sukumar Roy, Ha-Ya-Ba-Ra-La (1928)

(Un)dead Languages

Here's an article about (un)dead languages: 10 mysterious undeciphered scripts.

Bagus

“Bagus. This magic word, meaning ‘very good’ or ‘wonderful,’ depending on the inflection, served him in every situation.” —Stewart Wavell, The Naga King’s Daughter (1965)

Bagus is of Malay origin.

Abdubia

“I met Jundugio in my first tour of the interior provinces of Panama. He was not a great magician but he had a couple of effects he could sell very well. One of these was the stunt of eating a drinking glass which he did to the accompaniment of a weird dance while he shouted ‘Abdubia!’ his own magic word which he used in all his effects instead of the more common ‘Abracadabra’ or ‘Hocus Pocus.’” —Marko, “Jundugio and the Runaway Girl,” The Learned Pig Magic eZine (2000)