Chapter 17: The Man with Two Faces

Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China)
双面人 Shuāngmiàn-rén	双 shuāng = 'double'. 面 miàn = 'face'. 人 rén = 'person'.	Double-faced Person
Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan)
雙面人 Shuāngmiàn-rén	雙 shuāng = 'double'. 面 miàn = 'face'. 人 rén = 'person'.	Double-faced Person
Japanese
二つの顔をもつ男 Futatsu no kao o motsu otoko	二つ futatsu = 'two'. の no = connecting particle 顔を kao o = 'face' + object particle もつ motsu = 'to have', present tense. 男 otoko = 'man'.	The Man who has Two Faces
Korean
두 얼굴을 가진 사람 Du eolgul-eul gajin salam	두 du (둘 dul)= 'two'. 얼굴 eolgul = 'face' (을 -eul = object particle). 가지다 ga-ji-da = 'have' (-ㄴ past attributive). 사람 salam = 'person'.	The Person who has Two Faces
Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology)
Người hai mặt	người = 'person'. hai = 'two'. mặt = 'face'.	Two-faced person
Mongolian (previous)
Хоёр нүүртэн Khoyor nüürten	хоёр khoyor = 'two'. нүүр nüür = 'face'. -тэн -ten = 'people having'. (Added to хоёр нүүр khoyor nüür to describe class of people having the quality mentioned.)	One having Two Faces
Mongolian (new)
Хоёр нүүртэй хүн Khoyor nüürtei khün	хоёр khoyor = 'two'. нүүр nüür = 'face' + тэй tei 'having'. хүн khün = 'person'.	Person with Two Faces
⇚ Chapter 16		Book 2 Title ⇛

Literally a man with two faces, one at the front and one at the back. (Incidentally, The Man with Two Faces is also the title of several classic movies).

How is 'The Man with Two Faces' translated?

• The Chinese in both versions uses the neat compound word: 雙面人 / 双面人 shuāngmiàn-rén (雙 / 双 shuāng 'double, dual', 面 miàn 'face, aspect', 人 rén 'person'). This does not spell out the sex of the person.
  
  
• Vietnamese also uses a brief compound expression, người hai mặt 'two face person'. In Vietnamese, 'person' (người) comes first followed by 'two faces' (hai mặt).
  
  
• The Japanese uses the clause 二つの顔をもつ futatsu no kao o motsu 'to have two faces' to modify the noun 男 otoko 'man'. (Here the word for 'two' is 二つ futatsu, which happens not to need a counter or classifier - see word order notes.) The Japanese spells out the sex of the person.
  
  
• Korean follows a similar structure, with one main difference: 사람 salam does not spell out the sex of the person.
  
  
• The Mongolian translations use the case suffix the suffix -тай -tai / -тэй -tei / -той -toi, also abbreviated to -т -t, meaning 'with' or 'having'.
  
  
  • In the newer translation, хоёр нүүртэй khoyor nüür-tei 'having two faces' modifies хүн khün 'person', which does not spell out the sex of the person.
    
    
  • The older Mongolian translation uses -т -t 'having' + -эн -en, a suffix referring to people with the attribute in question. The meaning is thus 'one (of those) having two faces'. (-эн -en follows vowel harmony to agree with нүүр nüür 'face'.

(Korean appears thanks to "Hiro".)

(Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)

⇚ Chapter 16

Book 2 ⇛