Hyams on 31 July 2008
Of course you can copyright words. Try copy/pasting Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone into a manuscript and publish it. See how long you last before you get sued. =)
You create something, you own the copyright to it.
However, Disney did not create the phrase 'hakuna matata' (although they did popularise it) - just as you did not create the phrase 'konnichiwa' - so you're right in saying there shouldn't be any legal issues.
