Are the spells actually chopped-up phrases?

There's many instances of wordplay and onomatopoeia in the stories of Oz (like when the Flimflam Snakeoil Wizard chants "Omaha! Omaha!" to fool the populace into believing he has powers, etc. So when I hear Elphaba cast the hideoteous levitation spell, I can almost hear that they're actually words/phrases sorta dismantled and phonetically segmented.

Is she actually saying something when casting the spell?

(Also adore the tiniest hint of melody/singing Elphaba does when casting it! I think I remember learning that in many cultures in many different eras, the spoken/sung word is a form of magic.)