Chapter 9: The Writing on the Wall

Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China)
墙上的字 Qiáng-shang de zì	墙上 qiáng-shang = 'on the wall'. 的 de = connecting particle 字 zì = 'letters'.	Letters on the Wall
Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan)
牆上的字跡 Qiáng-shang de zìjì	牆上 qiáng-shang = 'on the wall'. 的 de = connecting particle 字跡 zìjì = 'handwriting'.	Handwriting on the Wall
Japanese
壁に書かれた文字 Kabe ni kakareta moji	壁 kabe = 'wall'. に ni = 'in, on' (particle of location). 書く kaku 'write' (Passive + past kakareta = 'was written', modifies the following word.) 文字 moji = 'letters'.	Letters Written on the Wall
Korean
벽면에 쓰인 경고 Byeog-myeon-e sseuin gyeonggo	벽 byeog = 'wall'. 면 (面) myeon = 'surface'. 에 e = 'in, on'. 쓰다 sseu-da = 'write' (Past attributive 쓰인 sseuin). 경고(警告) gyeonggo = 'warning'.	Warning Written on the Wall Surface
Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology)
Thông điệp trên tường	thông điệp (通牒) = 'message, note'. trên = 'on'. tường (牆) = 'wall'.	The Message on the Wall
Mongolian (previous)
Ханан дээрх бичиг Khanan deerkh bichig	хана khana = 'wall'. -н -n = 'hidden н' (quasi-genitive). дээр deer = 'on (top of)'. -х -kh converts дээр to a verbal ('which is on'). бичиг bichig = 'writing'.	Writing on the Wall
Mongolian (new)
Ханан дээрх бичиг Khanan deerkh bichig	хана khana = 'wall'. -н -n = 'hidden н' (quasi-genitive). дээр deer = 'on (top of)'. -х -kh converts дээр to a verbal ('which is on'). бичиг bichig = 'writing'.	Writing on the Wall

The writing on the wall refers to two messages that appeared on the wall in the corridor: The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir... beware, and Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.

In English, 'writing on the wall' usually evokes the biblical episode in Daniel 5:25, where a ghostly hand writes on the wall at Belshazzar's feast foretelling the fall of Babylon. The expression refers to an ominous portent.

The chapter titles are all translated directly, but because Christianity traditionally hasn't played a large role in the mainstream culture of the Orient, not all readers in these languages will pick up the Biblical undertones.

How is 'writing' translated?

'Writing' refers to what has been written by someone, in this case, what was written on the wall by Ginny.

• 'Writing' in the Japanese and Chinese versions is referred to as characters or letters (字 zì or 文字 moji). The Chinese translation from Taiwan uses 字跡 zìjì (Simplified 字迹 zìjì), referring to the traces of letters, which I've rendered as 'handwriting'.
  
  
• The Vietnamese uses thông điệp 'note, message'. Note: The chapter title given here is based on the original instalments. When the single-volume Vietnamese edition appeared, this chapter title was omitted altogether and the content of 'The Writing on the Wall' incorporated into 'The Deathday Party'. As a result, the single-volume edition jumps directly from Chapter 8 to Chapter 10.
  
  
• The Korean refers to a warning, 경고 gyeonggo, written 警告 in Chinese characters.
  
  
• Both Mongolian translations use the ordinary word for writing or letters, бичиг bichig.

How is 'on the wall' (prepositional phrase) translated?

Prepositional phrases after nouns (on the pattern 'Noun + preposition + Noun') are taken for granted in English but not necessarily found in other languages. The meaning of the English is 'the writing which is/was on the wall'.

In English, modifiers can either precede the noun (adjectives, participles) or follow it (relative clauses, participial phrases, prepositional phrases).

Before:

red	dress
broken	man

After:

man	who I saw
man	broken by fate
writing	on the wall

 

Only Vietnamese is able to retain exactly the same structure as English because modifiers follow the noun in Vietnamese:

váy 'dress'	đỏ 'red'
người đàn ông man	tôi đã nhìn thấy 'I saw'
thông điệp 'writing'	trên tường 'on wall'

The prepositional phrase-like structure trên tường 'on wall' is able to directly follow the noun.

In Mongolian, the modifier always precedes the noun.

улаан ulaan 'red'	даашинз daashinz 'dress'
миний харсан minii kharsan 'my saw'	эрэгтэй eregtei 'man'
ханан дээр бичсэн khanan deer bichsen 'wall-on wrote'	бичиг bichig 'letters'
ханан дээрх khanan deer-kh 'wall-on + -kh'	бичиг bichig 'letters'

Mongolian could potentially use a relative clause here ('wall-on wrote letters'; see Japanese and Korean below) but has available for use the suffix -х -kh, which is added to the prepositional-phrase. The meaning is equivalent to 'which is'.

Chinese places modifiers before the noun. Unless it is a short, single-syllable adjective, the particle 的 de must be used to connect the modifier to the noun.

红 / 紅 hóng 'red'	裙子 qúnzi 'dress'
红色的 / 紅色的 hóng-se de 'red-coloured (de)'	裙子 qúnzi 'dress'
我看的 wǒ kàn de 'I see (de)'	男人 nánrén 'man'
墙上的 / 牆上的 qiáng-shàng de 'wall-on' (de)	字 zì 'letter'

The last one can also be seen as a possessive: 'on the wall's writing'.

Japanese also places modifiers before the noun. The Japanese translator decides to spell out the word 'be written'. That is, she translates it literally as 'on the wall be-written letters' or, more naturally, 'letters (which are) written on the wall'. This is possible because such clauses end in a verb and precede the noun, with the verb directly modifying the noun.

赤い akai 'red'	ドレス doresu 'dress'
私の見た watashi no mita 'my saw'	男 otoko 'man'
壁に書かれた kabe-ni kakareta moji 'wall-on be-written'	文字 moji 'letters'
壁の上の kabe-no ue-no 'wall's top's letters	文字 moji 'letters'

The Japanese translation thus uses a relative clause type of structure. A construction like the Chinese ('on the wall's letters') would be possible but not very effective in this case.

The Korean translator follows a similar strategy to the Japanese. Like Japanese, Korean places modifiers before the noun.

빨간 ppalgan 'red'	드레스 deuleseu 'dress'
내가 본 naega bon 'my saw'	사람 salam 'person, man'
벽면에 쓰인 byeog-myeon-e sseuin 'wall-on-to be-written'	글자 geulja 'letters'
벽면의 byeogmyeon-ui 'wall's top's'	글자 geulja 'letters'

Similar structures are found at the following chapters:

The Letters from No One, The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters, The Man with Two Faces The Boggart in the Wardrobe, Mayhem at the Ministry, Christmas on the Closed Ward, The Ghoul in Pyjamas, The Flaw in the Plan.

(Korean appears thanks to "Hiro".)

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

⇚ Chapter 8

Chapter 10 ⇛