Chapter 8: The Potions Master
| Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China) | ||
| 魔药课老师 Móyào-kè lǎoshī |
魔 mó = 'magic'. 药 yào = 'medicine'. 课 kè = 'subject'. 老师 lǎoshī = 'teacher'. |
The Magic Medicine Lesson Teacher |
| Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan) | ||
| 魔藥學老師 Móyào-xué lǎoshī |
魔 mó = 'magic'. 藥 yào = 'medicine'. 學 xué = 'study' or '-ology'. 老師 lǎo-shī = 'teacher'. |
The Magic Medicine-ology Teacher |
| Japanese | ||
| 魔法薬の先生 Mahō-yaku no sensei |
魔法 mahō = 'magic'. 薬 yaku = 'medicine'. の no = connecting particle 先生 sensei = 'teacher' |
The Magic Medicine Teacher |
| Korean | ||
| 마법의 약 선생님 Mabeob-ui yag seonsaeng-nim |
마법 (魔法) mabeob = 'magic'. 의 -ui = 'connecting particle'. 약 (藥) yag = 'medicine'. 선생 (先生) seonsaeng = 'teacher'. 님 nim = 'formal word for Mr/Mrs'. |
The Magic Medicine Teacher |
| Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology) | ||
| Bậc thầy độc dược | bậc thầy = master (thầy = 'teacher'). độc (毒) = 'poison'. dược (藥) = 'medicine'. |
The Poison Medicine Master |
| Mongolian (previous) | ||
| Шидэт уусмалын багш Shidet uusmaliin bagsh |
шид shid = 'supernatural power, magic, sorcery'. шидэт shidet = 'having magic, magical, supernatural'. уусмал uusmal = 'solution' (-ын -iin Genitive form). багш bagsh = 'teacher'. (From Chinese 博士 bóshì ='doctor (academic)'.) |
The Teacher of Magical Solutions |
| Mongolian (new) | ||
| Шидэт уусмалын багш Shidet uusmaliin bagsh |
шид shid = 'supernatural power, magic, sorcery'. шидэт shidet = 'having magic, magical, supernatural'. уусмал uusmal = 'solution' (-ын -iin Genitive form). багш bagsh = 'teacher'. (From Chinese 博士 bóshì ='doctor (academic)'.) |
The Teacher of Magical Solutions |
The Potions master is, of course, Professor Snape. The English back-translations here are a bit clumsy so as to bring out the differences in expression.
How is 'potions' translated?
A potion is 'a liquid with healing, magical, or poisonous properties'.
- The two Chinese translations use 魔藥 (Trad.) / 魔药 (Simpl.)
móyào meaning 'magic medicine'.
The Mainland Chinese translation refers to the 'medicine class' (魔药课 móyào-kè). The Chinese translation from Taiwan calls it 'magical medicine study' or 'magical medicine-ology' (魔藥學 móyào-xué). - Japanese and Korean use 魔法薬 mahō-yaku / 마법의 약 (魔法의 藥) mabeob-ui yag 'magic medicine'.
- The Mongolian translations use шидэг уусмал shidet uusmal 'magical solution'.
- The Vietnamese translates 'potion' as độc dược meaning 'poison medicine'. This is not actually a 'poison medicine'; rather it means something with medicinal properties that happens to contain poisonous ingredients.
(Incidentally, yào, yaku, and dược (pronounced 'yuoc' or 'zuoc') all trace back to the same Chinese word 藥. What is interesting is that the final 'k' sound has been lost in modern Chinese (Mandarin), but is still retained in Japanese and Vietnamese, as well as Chinese dialects such as Cantonese. The character 藥 is the original Chinese character, simplified differently in Japan (薬) and Mainland China (药).)
How is 'master' translated?
'Master' as used in this chapter title has an old-fashioned British feel. It essentially means 'teacher'. (The term 'headmaster' is also British. equivalent to what in other places might be called the 'principal').
- The word for 'teacher' in the Chinese-language translations is 老師 (Trad.) / 老师 (Simpl.) lǎoshī.
- Japanese 先生 sensei and Korean 선생 (先生) seonsaeng mean 'teacher'. In Chinese,
先生 xiānsheng means 'Mr' or 'husband'.
Korean adds the additional honorific form 님 nim. - The Vietnamese thầy is the usual term of address for a teacher.
- The Mongolian word for 'teacher', багш, was originally borrowed from Chinese 博士 bóshì ='doctor (academic)', as in 'doctorate' or 'doctor's degree'.
(Korean appears thanks to "Hiro".)
(Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)
| ⇚ Chapter 7 |  |