Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century
| Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China) | ||
| 二十世纪的大巫师 Èr-shí shìjì de dà-wūshī |
二十
èr-shí = 'twenty'. 世纪 shìjì = 'century'. 的 de = connecting particle 大 dà = 'major'. 巫师 wūshī = 'wizard'. |
Great Wizards of the 20th Century |
| Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan) | ||
| 二十世紀的偉大巫師 Èr-shí shìjì de wěidà wūshī |
二十
èr-shí
= 'twenty'. 世紀 shìjì = 'century'. 的 de = connecting particle 偉大 wěidà = 'great'. 巫師 wūshī = 'wizard'. |
Great Wizards of the 20th Century |
| Japanese | ||
| 二十世紀の偉大な魔法使い Nijisseiki no idai na mahō-zukai |
二十世紀
nijisseiki = '20 century'. の no = connecting particle 偉大な idai na = 'great'. 魔法使い mahō-zukai = 'magician'. |
Great Magicians of the 20th Century |
| Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology) | ||
| Những phù thủy vĩ đại của thế kỷ hai mươi | những = plural marker sự kiện (事件) = 'fact, matter'. phù thủy = 'sorceror'. vĩ đại (偉大) = 'great'. của = 'belonging to, of'. thế kỷ (世紀) = 'century'. hai mươi = 'twenty'. |
Great Magicians of the 20th Century |
| Mongolian (previous) | ||
| XX зуний ид шидийн аугаа шидтэнгүүд Khor' dugaar zuunii id shidiin augaa shidtengüüd |
XX khor' dugaar = 'twentieth'. зуун zuun = 'century' (Genitive form). ид шид id shid = 'magic' (Genitive form). аугаа augaa = 'huge'. шидтэн shidten = 'magician'. -гүүд -güüd = plural |
Huge Magicians of the Twentieth Century |
| Mongolian (new) | ||
| Хорьдугаар зууны агуу шидтэнүүд Khor' dugaar zuunii id shidiin aguu shidtenüüd |
хорьдугаар khor' dugaar = 'twentieth'. зуун zuun = 'century' (Genitive form). ид шид id shid = 'magic' (Genitive form). агуу aguu = 'great, huge, gigantic'. шидтэн shidten = 'magician'. -үүд -üüd = plural |
Huge Magicians of the Twentieth Century |
Great
'Great' refers to the possession of 'ability, quality, or eminence considerably above average'.
- 'Great' is the same word in Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese: 偉大 (Chinese wěidà,
Japanese idai, Vietnamese vĩ đại.
The two Mongolian translations use slightly different words. The previous translation uses аугаа augaa 'huge'. The new translation uses агуу aguu, also meaning 'great, huge, gigantic'.
Wizard
Manipulation of magic in some form or another is found the world over. Shamanism (communication with the spirits) is found in many different cultures. However, the connotations of words for 'wizard' diverge according to the culture. Under Christianity, wizards and (more particularly) witches came to have extremely bad connotations. In some other cultures the role of the magic-makers was regarded in a more positive light, as seen in words like 'medicine man'.
- The word used for 'wizard' in the Chinese translations (巫師 / 巫師 wūshī) traces back to ancient Chinese shamanism, under which women (known as 巫 wū, among other names) danced to invoke the gods and acted as a medium for the words of the gods. (In Japan, female attendants at Shinto shrines are still known
as 巫女 miko). Perhaps because of its primitive flavour, 巫師 / 巫师 wūshī does not have particularly favourable connotations in Chinese.
The Japanese word for 'wizard', 魔法使い mahō-zukai, simply means 'user of magic'. It seems to have been developed as a standard translation for the English word 'wizard'.
The Vietnamese word phù thủy is a purely Vietnamese term for a wizard or sorceror.
The Mongolian word шидтэн shidten is made up of шид shid 'magic' + -т -t 'having' + -эн -en 'people, those'.
Century
'Century' refers to a period of one hundred years.
- All three CJV languages use the same word: 世紀 / 世纪 shìjì in Chinese, 世紀 seiki in Japanese, thế kỷ in Vietnamese.
Mongolian uses the term зуун zuun, from зуу zuu 'one hundred'.
Category: Who's Who / Biography
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