'Abracadabra: I Create as I Speak'

Message on 5-4-2014

The word "Abracadabra" may derive from an Aramaic phrase meaning "I create as I speak." This etymology is rather dubious, however, as אברא כדברא in Aramaic is more reasonably translated "I create like the word." The second lexeme in this supposedly Aramaic phrase must be a noun given the presence of the definite article on the end of the word (it cannot be an infinitive construct, as the infinitive cannot take the definite article). Regardless, this phrase would actually be pronounced ebra kidbara, which is clearly different from abracadabra. However, Semitic languages like Aramiac are not always hard and fast with the assignment of vowels, and abracadabra is similar enough to ebra kidebra, given the tendency of vowels to shift. In the Hebrew language, the phrase translates more accurately as "it came to pass as it was spoken."

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