Chapter 9: The Midnight Duel
| Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China) | ||
| 午夜决斗 Wǔyè juédòu |
午夜
wǔyè =
'midnight'. 决斗 juédòu = 'decisive struggle' = 'duel'. |
Midnight Duel |
| Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan) | ||
| 午夜的決鬥 Wǔyè de juédòu |
午夜
wǔyè = 'midnight'. 的 de = connecting particle 決鬥 juédòu = 'decisive struggle' = 'duel'. |
Midnight Duel |
| Japanese | ||
| 真夜中の決闘 Mayonaka no kettō |
真夜中
ma-yonaka = 'midnight'. の no = connecting particle 決闘 kettō = 'decisive struggle' = 'duel'. |
Midnight Duel |
| Korean | ||
| 한밤의 결투 Hanbam-ui gyeoltu |
한밤 hanbam = 'night, midnight'. 의 -ui = 'connecting particle'. 결투(決鬪) gyeoltu = 'decisive struggle' = duel'. |
Midnight Duel |
| Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology) | ||
| Cuộc giao đấu nửa đêm | cuộc = counter for a match or incident. giao (交) = 'mutual'. đấu (鬥) = 'fight'. nửa đêm = 'midnight'. |
Midnight Duel |
| Mongolian (previous) | ||
| Шөнө дундын халз тулаан Shön dundiin khalz tulaan |
шөнө дунд = 'middle of the night' (-ын -iin Genitive form). халз тулаан khalz tulaan = 'bald fight' = 'duel'. |
Midnight Duel |
| Mongolian (new) | ||
| Шөнө дундын халз тулаан Shön dundiin khalz tulaan |
шөнө дунд = 'middle of the night' (-ын -iin Genitive form). халз тулаан khalz tulaan = 'bald fight' = 'duel'. |
Midnight Duel |
This is the duel that Malfoy challenged Harry to but never eventuated.
How is 'duel' translated?
In Western culture, a duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, fought in accordance with agreed-upon rules in the presence of witnesses. The weapons in a duel must be matched. A duel was traditionally used to settle a dispute or matter of honour.
- The conventional translation of 'duel' in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean translations is the same word, although the second character in each takes a different form (China: 决斗, Taiwan: 決鬥, Japan: 決闘, Korea: 決鬪). This is one of those confusing
cases where Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea have adopted different variants
of the same character.
- Vietnamese đấu has the same origins as
鬥 / 斗 dòu in
Chinese, 闘 -tō in Japanese, and 투 -tu in Korean.
- Mongolian is a non-Sinoxenic language (it has not borrowed Chinese characters and Chinese vocabulary wholesale) and has an independent word for 'duel', халз тулаан khalz tulaan, literally meaning 'bald fight' (one-on-one fight).
How is 'midnight' translated?
Midnight is literally the middle of the night, usually understood as the time around 12 o'clock. The corresponding time in the middle of the day is midday or noon.
- In pre-modern China, the 'Hour of the Horse (午 wǔ)' was the period from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m. The middle of the night was traditionally the 'Hour of the Rat' (子 zǐ). In modern Chinese, 午 wǔ is also used for midnight
in the word 午夜 wǔyè (wǔ 'sign of the horse' + yè 'night'). The use of zodiac animals for marking the hours of the day is parallel to the system of naming the years in the Eastern zodiac.
- In Japanese, 夜中 yonaka (yo 'night' + naka 'middle') means 'middle of the night'. 真夜中 ma-yonaka means 'right in the middle of the night'
or 'the very middle of the night'. The Japanese translator's choice of words is reminiscent
of the classic movie High Noon, which is known as 真昼の決闘 Ma-hiru no kettō ('Noon Showdown').
- In Korean, 'midnight' is 한밤 hanbam. It is used in the form 한밤중 hanbam-jung 'in the middle of night' (중 -中 -jung 'middle').
- In Vietnamese, midnight is nửa đêm. Nửa means 'half' and đêm means 'night'.
- Mongolian uses the native term шөнө дунд shön dund, literally 'night-middle'.
(Korean appears thanks to "Hiro".)
(Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)
| ⇚ Chapter 8 |  |