Chapter 18: The Weighing of the Wands
| Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China) | ||
| 检测魔杖 Jiǎncè mózhàng |
检测
jiǎncè = 'test, examine'. 魔杖 mózhàng = 'magic cane' = 'wand'. |
Testing the Wands |
| Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan) | ||
| 檢測魔杖 Jiǎncè mózhàng |
檢測
jiǎncè = 'test, examine'. 魔杖 mózhàng = 'magic cane' = 'wand'. |
Testing the Wands |
| Japanese | ||
| 杖調べ Tsue-shirabe |
杖
tsue = 'cane, wand'. 調べ shirabe = 'investigation, examination, inspection'. |
Wand-inspection |
| Korean | ||
| ‘포터는 야비하다!’ 'Poteo-neun yabihada' |
'Potter is Dirty' | |
| Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology) | ||
| Cân đũa phép | cân = 'weigh'. đũa phép = 'magic wand' (đũa itself means 'chopsticks'). |
Weighing the wands |
| Mongolian (new) | ||
| Шидэт саваа дэнсэлсэн нь Shidet savaa denselsen n' |
шидэт shidet = 'magic (having magic)'. саваа savaa = 'rod, bat, stick'. дэнслэх denslekh = 'weigh' (-сэн -sen past tense). нь n' = 'about' (makes the preceding sentence into a noun). |
Of the Weighing of the Wands |
Weighing
The so-called 'weighing' of the wands is actually an inspection to see they are in good condition before the tournament.
- The Chinese translators (Mainland and Taiwan)
use the word 檢測 (Trad.) / 检测
jiǎncè (Simpl.) 'test, examination' to convey this meaning. Both use brief sentences meaning 'weigh the wands'.
- Japanese uses 調べ shirabe 'examination, inspection', from the verb 調べる shiraberu 'check, test, investigate'. The result is a compound meaning 'wand-inspection'.
- Vietnamese follows the English version fairly literally with cân 'to weigh'. Cân is not totally without more abstract senses as it can be found in words like cân nhắc 'weigh, ponder', which is not very germane to the sense of the title. Like the Chinese, Vietnamese uses a short sentence ('weigh the wands').
- Mongolian uses дэнслэх denslekh 'weigh', which also has senses such as 'speculate, deliberate, contemplate'. These nuances are not relevant in this context. The Mongolian uses a particular construction often found in titles, whereby a sentence in the past tense (here with the verb дэнсэлсэн denselsen 'weighed' followed by the particle нь n', originally meaning 'its' but here used to make the whole sentence into a topic.
Wand
The English uses a plural ('wands'). All of the translations use a singular form.
- The Chinese translations use 魔杖 mózhàng
'magic cane' for wand.
- The Japanese uses the simple noun 杖 tsue meaning 'cane'.
- The Vietnamese uses đũa phép, literally meaning 'magic
chopstick'.
- The Mongolian uses шидэг саваа shidet savaa 'magic rod/bat/stick'.
(Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)
| ⇚ Chapter 17 |  |