Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century
| Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China) | ||
| 二十世纪重要魔法事件 Èr-shí shìjì zhòngyào mófǎ shìjiàn |
二十 èr-shí = 'twenty'. 世纪 shìjì = 'century'. 重要 zhòngyào = 'important'. 魔法 mófǎ = 'magic'. 事件 shìjiàn = 'incident'. |
Important Magical Incidents of the 20th Century |
| Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan) | ||
| 二十世紀重要巫術事件 Èr-shí shìjì zhòngyào wūshù shìjiàn |
二十 èr-shí = 'twenty'. 世紀 shìjì = 'century'. 重要 zhòngyào = 'important'. 巫術 wūshù = 'wizard arts'. 事件 shìjiàn = 'incident'. |
Important Wizardry Incidents of the 20th Century |
| Japanese | ||
| 二十世紀の魔法大事件 Nijisseiki no mahō dai-jiken |
二十世紀 nijisseiki = '20th century'. の no = connecting particle 魔法 mahō = 'magic'. 大事件 dai-jiken = 'large incident'. |
Major Magical Incidents of the 20th Century |
| Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology) | ||
| Những sự kiện phù phép lớn trong thế kỷ hai mươi | những = plural marker sự kiện (事件) = 'incident'. phù phép = 'bewitching'. lớn = 'large'. trong = 'in'. thế kỷ (世紀) = 'century'. hai mươi = 'twenty'. |
Major Wizarding Incidents in the 20th Century |
| Mongolian (previous) | ||
| XX зуний ид шидийн аугаа явдлууд Khor' dugaar zuunii id shidiin augaa yavdluud |
XX khor' dugaar = 'twentieth'. зуун zuun = 'century' (Genitive form). ид шид id shid = 'magic' (Genitive form). аугаа augaa = 'huge'. явдал yavdal = 'business, matter, affair'. -ууд -uud = plural |
Huge Magical Matters of the Twentieth Century |
| Mongolian (new) | ||
| Хорьдугаар зууны ид шидийн агуу их үйл явдлууд Khor' dugaar zuunii id shidiin aguu ikh üil yavdluud |
хорьдугаар khor' dugaar = 'twentieth'. зуун zuun = 'century' (Genitive form). ид шид id shid = 'magic' (Genitive form). агуу их aguu ikh = 'great, huge, gigantic'. үйл явдал üil yavdal = 'work, activity, event'. -ууд -uud = plural |
Huge Magical Events of the Twentieth Century |
This was another source for the young Hermione's knowledge about Harry Potter.
The three CJV languages share not a small amount of Chinese-based vocabulary, which shows up clearly in this book title. The shared vocabulary is a result of the historic use of Chinese characters by all three languages. However, often this Chinese-based vocabulary was created by the Japanese in the 19th century as translations of Western terminology and then 're-exported' to China, from which it was borrowed by the Vietnamese in turn.
How is the prepositional phrase 'in the 20th century' translated?
English uses a string of nouns and adjectives to express 'great wizarding events'. The prepositional phrase 'in the 20th century' is split off and follows 'events', which it modifies ('events in the 20th century').
As seen in this title, Chinese likes to link words together into strings. Both Vietnamese and Japanese have been influenced by this practice. Mongolian, on the other hand, prefers to use genitives to link nouns together.
- The two Chinese-language translations use a straight concatenation of nouns and adjectives ('20th century important magic incidents').
- In the Japanese, a connector (の no) is added ('magic large incidents of 20th century').
- In Vietnamese, attributive words (adjectives, etc.) are normally placed after the noun. 'In the 20th century' is split off as a kind of prepositional phrase. Thus: 'large magical incidents in 20th century' (literally 'incidents magical large in century 20th'). 'Incident' is pluralised.
- The Mongolian translations use genitive forms of '20th century' and 'magic', thus: 'Huge events of magic of 20th century'. 'Event' is pluralised.
How is 'Wizarding' translated?
'Wizarding' is a peculiar word that looks like it is derived from the verb 'to wizard'. Most of the translators translate it as 'magic/magical'.
- Both the Mainland and Japanese translators use the noun 魔法 (Chinese mófǎ,
Japanese mahō) meaning 'magic'. Here it is used adjectively.
- Mongolian uses ид шид id shid, meaning 'magic'.
- The Taiwanese translator takes a slightly different tack, translating it as 巫術 wūshù meaning 'wizard arts'.
- The Vietnamese translator uses phù phép meaning 'bewitching'.
What is the word for 'event'?
- 'Event' is the same word in all three CJV languages: 事件 (Chinese shìjiàn,
Japanese jiken, Vietnamese sự kiện)
.
- Mongolian does not share this vocabulary. 'Event' is явдал yavdal in one translation, more accurately үйл явдал üil yavdal in the other. Явдал yavdal 'business, matter, affair' is derived from the verb явах yavakh 'to go'. Үйл üil means 'work, activity'. Together they mean 'work, activity, event, cause'.
What is the word for 'century'?
- 'Century' uses the same word in all three CJV languages: 世紀 / 世纪 shìjì in Chinese, 世紀 seiki in Japanese, thế kỷ in Vietnamese.
- 'Century' in Mongolian is зуун zuun, from зуу zuu meaning 'hundred'.
Category: History
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