Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince |
Chapter 12: Silver and Opals
(For the romanisation of Chinese and Japanese, see Transliteration. To understand the writing systems of CJV, see Writing Systems. For word order notes, see Word Order)
Where a Vietnamese word has been borrowed from Chinese, the original Chinese character is shown in parentheses.
| Chinese (Mainland) | 银器和蛋白石 Yínqì hé dànbái-shí |
银器 yínqì = 'silver instrument' 和 hé = 'and'. 蛋白石 dànbái-shí = 'egg-white stone' = 'opal'. |
Silver instrument and opal |
| Chinese (Taiwan) | 銀杯與貓眼石 Yínbēi yǔ māoyǎn-shí |
銀杯 yínbēi = 'silver cup'. 與 yǔ = 'and (written)'. 貓眼石 māoyǎn-shí = 'cat's-eye stone'. |
Silver cup and cat's eye stone |
| Japanese | シルバーとオパール Shirubā to opāru |
シルバー shirubā = 'silver'. と to = 'and'. オパール opāru = 'opal'. |
Silver and opal |
| Vietnamese | Bạc và ngọc | bạc = 'silver'. và = 'and'. ngọc (玉) = 'jewel'. |
Silver and jewels |
The 'silver' is the silver goblet that Mundungus Fletcher purloined from Sirius Black's house, which Harry and Ron noticed when he dropped his goods in Hogsmeade. The 'opals' are the cursed opal neckace that Katie was carrying.
Silver
The Mainland translator refers to 银器 yínqì, a 'silver instrument'. In the body of the chapter it is clarified that Mundungus was carrying a goblet (高脚酒杯 gāojiǎo jiǔbēi, 'high-legged liquor-vessel').
The Taiwanese translator is more specific, referring to a 'silver cup' (銀杯 yínbēi).
The Japanese translator uses the borrowed English word 'silver' (シルバー shirubā), which is widely known in Japanese, in preference to the more traditional word 銀 gin.
The Vietnamese translator uses the word bạc meaning 'silver'.
Opals
The opal is a type of precious stone, somewhat less well-known in China than in the West, although becoming better known as people travel abroad. The term used in the Mainland Chinese translation, 蛋白石 dànbái-shí ('eggwhite stone') is the standard Chinese word for 'opal'.
The Taiwanese version uses 貓眼石 māoyǎn-shí ('cat's eye stone'). Technically this refers to a different stone from the opal, a kind of chrysoberyl. However, in Taiwan 貓眼石 māoyǎn-shí is also commonly used for the opal, possibly due to the existence of the 'cat's eye opal' or 貓眼蛋白石 māoyǎn-dànbái-shí.
In Japan, opals are a well-known gemstone. For some reason, the word has been naturalised into Japanese as オパール opāru, with a long, drawn-out second syllable.
The Vietnamese translator simplifies matters by translating 'opals' simply as 'jewels' (ngọc).
(A summary of this chapter can be found at Harry Potter Facts. Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)
 Chapter 11 |
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