This lecture is part of the collection "The Genius of Language" by Rudolf Steiner. Steiner (1861-1925) was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher. At the beginning of the 20th century, he founded a spiritual movement, Anthroposophy. He is considered the father of Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical medicine and spiritual science. Importance of ideas, images, and vocabulary brought to Central Europe from the South with Christianity. The waning of language-forming power, though still alive in the dialects. Consonants imitate outer happenings;the inward nature of vowels. False theories of language. Speech sounds and soul qualities; Ulfilas’s language. Metamorphoses of sound and meaning. The entire Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner are available from SteinerBooks.