Chapter 9: Grim Defeat
| Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China) | ||
| 不详的失败 Bùxiáng de shībài |
不详
búxiàng = 'ominous, inauspicious'. 的 de = connecting particle 失败 shībài = 'defeat, failure'. |
Ominous Defeat |
| Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan) | ||
| 狗靈敗退 Gǒu-líng bàituì |
狗靈
gǒu-líng = 'dog spirit'. 敗退 bàituì = 'retreat in defeat'. |
Dog-spirit Retreat |
| Japanese | ||
| 恐怖の敗北 Kyōfu no haiboku |
恐怖
kyōfu = 'terror, dread'. の no = connecting particle 敗北 haiboku = 'defeat'. |
Terrible Defeat |
| Korean | ||
| 쓰라린 패배 Sseulalin paebae |
쓰라리다 sseulalin = 'sore, bitter'. 패배 (敗北) paebae = 'defeat, loss'. |
Bitter Defeat |
| Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology) | ||
| Chiến bại ác liệt | chiến bại
(戰敗) = 'defeat, loss'. ác liệt (惡烈) = 'violent, fierce, bitter'. |
Bitter Defeat |
| Mongolian (new) | ||
| Гашуун ялагдал Gashuun yalagdal |
гашуун gashuun = 'bitter' ялагдал yalagdal = 'defeat' (from ялагдах yalagdakh 'be defeated', passive of ялах yalakh 'to defeat'.) |
Bitter Defeat |
This chapter refers to Gryffindor's defeat when Cedric Diggory grabs the snitch while Harry is under the spell of the Dementors.
How is 'defeat' translated?
The Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese (CJKV) translations all use words based on Chinese. This involves compounds using the character 敗 (Trad.) / 败 (Simpl.) 'defeat'. This is pronounced bài in Mandarin, hai (or -pai) in Japanese, pae in Korean, and bại in Vietnamese.
- The Mainland Chinese version uses 失败 shībài 'lose + defeat'
for 'defeat'. (In Japanese, 失敗 shippai means 'failure' or 'blunder' - See Chapter 2 above).
- The Taiwanese uses 敗退 bàituì 'defeat + retreat'.
- The Japanese and Korean use the same word, 敗北 haiboku / 패배 paebae. In Chinese this is pronounced bàiběi, a formal word for 'defeat'.
- The Vietnamese version uses chiến bại (Chinese 戰敗 zhànbài 'battle + defeat'), a term for losses, damage, or defeat in battle.
- Since Mongolian has not borrowed Chinese vocabulary wholesale like Japanese, Vietnamese, and Korean, it uses a native term for 'defeat'. The word ялах yalakh means 'to overcome, win, defeat'. The passive form is ялагдах yalagdakh 'to be defeated'. From this is derived the noun ялагдал yalagdal 'defeat'. (For a similar example, see the word for 'prisoner' in the title The Prisoner of Azkaban.)
How is 'grim' translated?
This seemingly simple word inspires several different translations. The sense of the English is that defeat was very hard on the defeated side and had serious consequences.
- The Korean translation uses 쓰라리다 sseulalin 'sore, bitter' which accords well with the English.
- The Mongolian translation uses гашуун gashuun meaning 'bitter'.
- Vietnamese uses ác liệt (related to Chinese 惡烈 èliè),
a term that means 'fierce', 'violent', or 'bitter', often used for fighting.
- The Japanese version uses the noun 恐怖 kyōfu 'terror, dread' followed by the linking particle の no. The meaning is 'terrible' or 'terrifying'.
- The Mainland translator chooses the term 不详
búxiàng 'ominous, inauspicious'. This puts a slightly different slant on the word 'grim' from what we might expect.
- The Taiwanese version is something of a mystery. How does 'grim' become 狗靈 gǒu-líng 'dog spirit'? The mystery is solved if we remember that Professor Trelawney saw 'the Grim' in Harry's tea leaves at Chapter 6: a 'giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards'. The translator has connected 'grim' defeat with the appearance of an enormous shaggy black dog at the Quidditch match.
This interpretation might also be behind the translation of 'grim' as 'inauspicious' in the Mainland Chinese translation.
(Korean appears thanks to "Hiro".)
(Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)
| ⇚ Chapter 8 |  |