Chapter 12: The Patronus

Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China)
守护神 Shǒuhù-shén	守护 shǒuhù = 'guard, defend'. 神 shén = 'god, divinity'.	The guardian spirit
Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan)
護法 Hùfǎ	護法 hùfǎ = 'protect the law' = 'upholder of Buddhist law, benefactor of a temple'.	Protector of the law
Japanese
守護霊（パトローナス） Shugorei / Patorōnasu	守護 shugo = 'protect, guard'. 霊 rei = 'spirit'. パトローナス patorōnasu = 'Patronus'	The guardian spirit / Patronus
Korean
패트로누스 Paeteulonuseu	패트로누스 paeteulonuseu = 'Patronus'	Patronus
Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology)
Thần hộ mệnh	thần hộ mệnh (神護命) = 'guardian angel, guardian spirit'.	Guardian angel
Mongolian (new)
Патронус Patronus	Патронус patronüs = 'Patronus'.	Patronus

A patronus is a magical guardian conjured up by the Patronus charm. If the wizard is skilled enough to project a corporeal Patronus it takes the form of an animal. As a projection of positive feelings it can ward off Dementors.

Rowling has taken the word from Latin patronus (related to Latin pater 'father'), which originally meant 'defender, protector, advocate' and in mediaeval times developed the meanings 'patron saint, bestower of a benefice, lord, master'. The modern English form is 'patron' (from French). (See Etymology Online.)

How is 'Patronus' translated?

In a number of our languages (Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese), 'Patronus' is rendered as a kind of protective spirit.

• The Mainland Chinese and Japanese versions use an expression meaning 'guardian deity' or 'tutelary deity', a part of rural folk religion. Chinese 守護 (Trad.) / 守护 (Simpl.) shǒuhù means 'guard, protect, defend; guardian, protection'. Japanese 守護 shugo also means 'guardian, protection', becoming a verb with the addition of する suru.
  
  
  • The Mainland Chinese rendition is 守护神 (Trad. 守護神) shǒuhù-shén meaning 'protective god, protective deity, tutelary deity' (神 shén 'god').
    
    
  • The Japanese translator uses 守護霊 shugo-rei 'guardian spirit, tutelary spirit' (霊 rei 'spirit').
    
    
• The Chinese version from Taiwan uses 護法 (Simpl. 护法) hùfǎ 'protect the law', a religious expression meaning 'upholder of Buddhist law' or 'benefactor of a temple'. Due to a belief in this powerful spiritual protection, Buddhist priests and temples have a habit of making appearances in Chinese stories of the supernatural.
  
  
• The Vietnamese uses thần hộ mệnh, a fixed expression meaning 'guardian angel' or 'guardian spirit', made up of Chinese-derived elements. Thần (in characters 神) means 'god'; hộ mệnh (in characters 神護命) means 'protect life'. Note that the word for 'god' or 'deity', thần comes first in Vietnamese, reflecting native word order. In Chinese 神 comes last.

In the Korean, Mongolian, and Japanese translations, the word 'Patronus' is transliterated from English. Japanese takes the best of both worlds by using a word meaning 'guardian spirit' (see above) along with the pronunciation of Patronus shown in small writing (furigana) above the main text (See Chapter 3 for an explanation).

• The Japanese gives パトローナス patorōnasu. Because of its syllabics, Japanese must render 'tro' as トロ toro and 's' as ス su. The pronunciation is based directly on English -- long 'o' in English becomes ō and '-us' becomes asu.
  
  
• The Korean translation uses 패트로누스 paeteulonuseu. Like Japanese, Korean must resyllabicise 'tr' as 트로 teulo and 's' as 스 seu. The pronunciation of the last part, 누스 -nuseu, is notionally based on Latin rather than English.
  
  
• The Mongolian translation uses Патронус patronus, based on Russian spelling principles. The pronunciation is patronüs, not patronus. Foreign words spelt with 'у' u (IPA /o/) in Mongolian are pronounced 'ү' ü in foreign words. (Note, ü in my transliteration is IPA /u/, not German ü!).

(Korean appears thanks to "Hiro".)

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

⇚ Chapter 11

Chapter 13 ⇛