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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince |
Chapter 29: The Phoenix Lament
(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) | 凤凰挽歌 Fènghuáng wǎngē |
凤凰
fènghuáng = 'phoenix'. 挽歌 wǎngē = 'dirge, elegy'. |
The phoenix dirge |
| Chinese (Taiwan) | 鳳凰悲歌 Fènghuáng bēigē |
鳳凰 fènghuáng = 'phoenix'. 悲歌 bēigē = 'sad, stirring song; dirge, elegy'. |
The phoenix elegy |
| Japanese | 不死鳥の嘆き Fushi-chō no nageki |
不死鳥 fushi-chō = 'not-die bird' = 'phoenix'. の no = connecting particle 嘆き nageki = 'lament'. |
The lament of the phoenix |
| Vietnamese | Phượng hoàng than khóc | phượng hoàng (鳳凰) = 'phoenix'. than khóc = 'to lament, bewail'. (than = 嘆) |
The phoenix laments |
Fawkes' song for the death of Dumbledore is called a 挽歌 wǎngē, a dirge or elegy, in the Mainland translation, and a 悲歌 bēigē, a sad and stirring song, dirge, or elegy in the Taiwanese translation.
The Japanese translation uses the word 嘆き nageki, meaning 'lament'. This is not a funeral dirge, but a plaint of sadness in the face of hardship or distress. It is the same word used at The Woes of Mrs Weasley (Book 5 Chapter 9).
The Vietnamese translator uses a verb (than khóc meaning 'to lament') rather than a noun.
(A summary of this chapter can be found at Harry Potter Facts. Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)