Chapter 7: The Boggart in the Wardrobe

Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China)
衣柜里的博格特 Yīguì-lǐ de bógétè	衣柜 yīguì = 'clothes + cupboard' = 'wardrobe'. 里 lǐ = 'inside'. 的 de = connecting particle 博格特 bógétè = 'boggart'.	The boggart in the wardrobe
Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan)
衣柜裡的幻形怪 Yīguì-lǐ de huàn-xíng-guài	衣柜 yīguì = 'clothes + cupboard' = 'wardrobe'. 裡 lǐ = 'inside'. 的 de = connecting particle 幻 huàn = 'magical, changeable, illusory'. 形 xíng = 'shape, form'. 怪 guài = 'monster, demon'.	The Illusory-shape-demon in the Wardrobe
Japanese
洋箪笥のまね妖怪 Yō-dansu no mane-yōkai	洋 yō = 'Western-style'. 箪笥 tansu = 'chest of drawers, cabinet'. (Together, yō-dansu = 'wardrobe') の no = connecting particle まね mane = 'imitation' (まねる maneru = 'to imitate, copy'). 妖怪 yōkai = 'ghost, spectre, monster'.	The Imitating-ghost of the Wardrobe
Korean
벽장 속의 보가트 Byeogjang sog-ui bogateu	벽장 (壁欌) byeogjang = 'closet, cupboard'. 속 sog= 'inside'. 의 -ui = connecting particle 보가트 bogateu = Boggart (phonetic).	The Boggart in the Closet
Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology)
Ông kẹ trong tủ áo	ông kẹ = 'ogre'. trong = 'in'. tủ áo = 'wardrobe'. (tủ = 'cupboard', áo = 'clothing').	The Ogre in the Wardrobe
Mongolian (new)
Хувцасны шүүгээн дэх Боггарт khuvtsasnii shüügeen dekh boggart	хувцас khuvtsas = 'clothes' (-(н)ы -(n)ii Genitive form). шүүгээ(н) shüügee = 'cupboard, cabinet' (with hidden н, quasi-genitive). дэх dekh = 'which is in or at (a place)'. Боггарт boggart = 'boggart'.	The Boggart at the Wardrobe

The Boggart in the wardrobe appears in Lupin's first Defence Against the Dark Arts class, designed to teach students how to confront them.

The boggart in the Harry Potter books is a creature that tries to terrify people by taking the form of what they are most afraid of.

Boggarts existed in north English folklore as malicious household spirits of the nature of a poltergeist (see Encyclopedia Mythica, Mysterious Britain Gazeteer, Wikipedia). They are dark and hairy. In Susan Cooper's books they have the property of being shape-shifters. However, their habit of taking on the form of what you most fear appears to be Rowling's invention.

How is 'boggart' translated?

• The Mainland Chinese translation renders the pronunciation as 博格特 bógétè, which doesn't have much meaning (博 bó means 'rich, abundant, gamble, win'; 格 gé means 'squares, divisions, standards, fight, etc.'; 特 tè means 'special').
  
  
• The Korean translation uses the straightforward transliteration 보가트 bogateu.
  
  
• The Mongolian translation also uses a transliteration of the English term 'boggart' (Боггарт boggart).
  
  
• The Taiwanese version coins the term 幻形怪 huàn-xíng-guài 'illusory shape demon'. This is a variation on the existing word 變形怪 biàn-xíng-guài 'change shape demon' or 'shape shifter' (thanks to a visitor for pointing this out).
  
  
• The Japanese word まね妖怪 mane-yōkai ('imitating-ghost') is a coined expression referring to the boggart's habit of 'imitating' what the observer is afraid of.
  
  
• The Vietnamese simply uses the word ông kẹ, 'ogre'.

How is 'wardrobe' translated?

A wardrobe is a cabinet for storing clothes, with hanging space, sliding shelves, and drawers.

• In Chinese this is generally known as 衣柜 yīguì, where 衣 yī is a morpheme (not an independent word) meaning 'clothes' and 柜 guì means 'cabinet'. Alternative terms exist, including 衣櫥 yīchú 'clothes cabinet'.
  
  
• In Japanese, a 箪笥 tansu is a piece of furniture for storing clothes, traditionally a chest of drawers for Japanese-style clothing. For a Western-style wardrobe the term 洋服だんす (洋服箪笥) yōfuku-dansu is used. 洋服 yōfuku means 'Western-style clothing', as opposed to 和服 wafuku 'Japanese-style clothing'. Japanese also uses the English term ワードローブ wādorōbu. However, the translation uses 洋箪笥 yō-dansu, literally referring to a Western-style cabinet.
  
  
• Vietnamese terms for a wardrobe include tủ áo and tủ quần áo. Tủ means 'cabinet' while áo and quần áo are native Vietnamese words meaning 'clothing'. The translation uses the first alternative.
  
  
• The Korean word for a wardrobe is 옷장 otjang (옷 ot 'clothing', 장 (欌) jang 'cabinet'). However the translator uses the more generic term 벽장 byeogjang, written 壁欌 in Chinese characters, literally 'wall-cabinet', with the sense of 'closet' or 'cupboard'.
  
  
• Mongolian has шүүгээ shūügee as a general word for a cupboard or cabinet. A wardrobe is more narrowly referred to as хувцасны шүүгээ khuvtsasnii shüügee 'clothing cupboard', as used by the translator. In everyday life, the Russian term шкаф shkaf (or хувцасны шкаф khuvtsasnii shkaf) is commonly used for a very large and heavy wardrobe in Mongolia. In literary works (such as this translation of Harry Potter), the native term is preferred.
  
  (The terms used in Inner Mongolia, as per dictionaries -- unconfirmed from actual usage -- are хувцасан хорго khuvtsasan khorog or хувцасан авдар khuvtsasan avdar.)

How is 'in the' (prepositional phrase) translated?

In English, a prepositional phrase can be directly attached to a noun, 'the boggart in the wardrobe'. The meaning is 'the boggart which is in the wardrobe'. This English usage can't be reproduced in all languages. While 'the boggart was in the wardrobe' (after a verb) is fine, 'in the wardrobe' can't necessarily be just added to a noun in the same way.

• Vietnamese is a language in which 'in the wardrobe' (trong tủ áo) can be used in a similar way to English. Unlike Chinese, Japanese, and Mongolian, it follows the noun without modification.

Chinese and Japanese require a particle to be inserted, 的 de in the case of Chinese, の no in the case of Japanese. The phrase comes before the noun.

• The Chinese translations reproduce the preposition 'in' by using the suffix 里 (Simpl.) / 裡 (Trad.) lǐ 'inside'. (衣柜裡的 (Trad.) / 衣柜里的 (Simpl.) yīguì-lǐ de 'of the wardrobe-inside'.)
  
  
• The Korean translation is structurally the same as the Chinese, adding the suffixal form 속 sog 'inside' followed by the connecting suffix (possessor) 의 -ui, with the meaning 'of the wardrobe-inside'.
  
  
• The Japanese translation dispenses with the expression 'inside'. Instead of 洋箪笥の中のまね妖怪 yō-dansu no naka no mane-yōkai 'the imitating-ghost of the inside of the wardrobe', it uses 洋箪笥のまね妖怪 yō-dansu no mane-yōkai 'the imitating-ghost of the wardrobe'. (Another solution in Japanese, which the translator doesn't adopt, is to use a verb: 洋箪笥の中にあるまね妖怪 yō-dansu no naka ni aru mane-yōkai 'the imitating-ghost which is inside the wardrobe'.)
  
  
• Mongolian uses the peculiar form дэх dekh, which has a semi-verbal force with the sense of 'which is at' or 'which is in'. This avoids the awkwardness of the Chinese and Japanese constructions. Mongolian does not indicate that the boggart was inside the wardrobe, which could have been shown by using доторх dotrokh = дотор dotor 'inside' + the ending -х -kh, meaning 'which is inside'. Дэх dekh has the more general meaning of 'at a place'.

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

⇚ Chapter 6

Chapter 8 ⇛