(For the romanisation of Chinese and Japanese, see Transliteration. To understand the writing systems of CJV, see Writing Systems. For word order notes, see Word Order)

Where a Vietnamese word has been borrowed from Chinese, the original Chinese character is shown in parentheses.

 

Chinese (Mainland)	哈利･波特与魔法石 Hālì Bōtè yǔ mófǎ-shí	哈利･波特 Hālì Bōtè = phonetic transcription. 与 yǔ = 'and' (written Chinese). 魔法 mófǎ = 'magic' (the 'method' or 'way' or 'arts' of magic). 石 shí = 'stone'.	Harry Potter and the Magic Stone
Chinese (Taiwan)	哈利波特 神秘的魔法石 Hālì Pōtè -- shénmì de mófǎ-shí	哈利波特 Hālì Pōtè = a phonetic transcription. 神秘的 shénmì de = 'mysterious'. 魔法 mófǎ = 'magic'. 石 shí = 'stone'.	Harry Potter: The Mysterious Magic Stone
Japanese	ハリー・ポッターと賢者の石 Harii Pottā to Kenja no Ishi	ハリー・ポッター Harii Pottā = phonetic transcription (in katakana, the script normally used for foreign words). と to = 'and'. 賢者の石 Kenja no Ishi = 'wise man's stone', the standard translation for 'philosopher's stone',	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Vietnamese	Harry Potter và hòn đá phù thủy	Harry Potter (pronounced Ha-ri Pốt-tơ). và = 'and'. hòn đá = 'stone' (hòn means 'piece' and is a 'counter' or 'classifier'; đá means 'stone'). phù thủy = 'sorceror'. Hòn đá phù thủy means 'sorceror's stone'.	Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone

The Philosopher's Stone was an obsession of Western alchemy. The stone was said to be an elixir for prolonging life and had the property of turning other substances into gold. The name has conventionally been translated into the CJV languages as follows:

Chinese: 哲人之石 Zhé-rén-zhī-shí meaning 'philosopher's stone', or 点金石 Diǎn-jīn-shí, meaning 'touch-gold-stone'
Japanese: 賢者の石 Kenja no Ishi meaning 'wise man's stone'.
Vietnamese: Đá tạo vàng meaning 'gold-creating stone'.

The Japanese translator follows the U.K. edition in translating the title. However, the Taiwanese and Chinese translators follow the American title by calling it a 'magic stone'. Since a straight translation of the English is somewhat bald, the Taiwanese translation jazzes it up a little by adding the word 'mysterious'. The Vietnamese translator also follows the American title.

Chapter One