Places (Ch)

(For the romanisation of Chinese and Japanese, see Transliteration. To understand the writing systems of CJV, see Writing Systems.)

1. Place Names

2. Names of Schools

PLACE NAMES
English	Mainland	Taiwan	Notes
Privet Drive	女贞路 Nǚzhēn Lù	水蠟樹街 Shuǐlà-shù Jiē	Both 女贞 nǚzhēn and 水蠟樹 shuǐlà-shù are types of plant. Although given in English-Chinese dictionaries as translations for 'privet', they are actually somewhat different plants. It is clear that Little Whinging is one of those relatively new urban developments where all the streets have been named after a particular theme (in this case 'flowers'), in keeping with Rowling's characterisation of it as an extremely boring place.
Magnolia Crescent	木兰花新月街 Mùlán-huā Xīnyuè Jiē	蘭月街 Lányuè Jiē	The Mainland version means 'Magnolia-flower New-moon Street'. The Taiwanese version means 'Orchid Moon Street'. It is not clear looking at the two names that 'Crescent' is just a fancy word for a kind of street (a curved street). They are quite likely to be interpreted as 'Magnolia-Newmoon Street' and 'Orchidmoon Street' respectively. Incidentally, Magnolia Road is 木兰花路 Mùlán-huā Lù ('Magnolia-flower Road') and 木蘭路 Mùlán Lù ('Magnolia Road') respectively. The connection between the names of the two streets is quite unclear in the Taiwanese version.
Little Whinging	小惠金区 Xiǎo Huìjīn-qū	小惠因區 Xiǎo Huìyīn-qū	'Little Huijin/Huiyin District'. 惠金 Huìjīn is literally 'endow gold' but the characters are used for phonetic purposes only.
The Burrow	陋居 Lòujū	洞穴屋 Dòngxué-wū	The Burrow is the small, higgledy-piggledy home of the Weasley's. 陋居 lòujū means 'mean or humble dwelling'. 洞穴屋 dòngxué-wū means 'cave house'. Neither quite conveys the meaning of 'The Burrow'.
Ottery St. Catchpole	奥特里 ‒ 圣卡奇波尔 Aòtèlǐ Shèng Kǎqíbō'ěr	凱奇波區奧特瑞街 Kǎiqípō-qū Aòtèruì-jiē	This quaint English name combines 'Ottery', the name of a river, with what appears to be a saint called St Catchpole (there is another town in the area called 'Ottery St Mary'). The Mainland version uses a phonetic version (奥特里 Aòtèlǐ = 'Ottery', 卡奇波尔 Kǎqíbō'ěr = 'Catchpole'). 'Saint' is rendered 圣 shèng 'saint, sacred', the normal way of rendering 'Saint' in Chinese. The Taiwanese version is also phonetic, but misinterprets 'St' as meaning 'street'. The meaning is Catchpole District, Ottery Street. (區 qū means 'district', 街 jiē means 'street'.)
Stoatshead Hill	白鼬山 Bái-Yòu Shān	鼬頭丘 Yòutóu Qiū	The Mainland version literally means 'White weasel mountain', where 白鼬 ('white weasel') is the Chinese word for a stoat or ermine. The Taiwanese version means literally 'Weasel head hill'. 山 shān is the general and most widely used term in Chinese for anything from a hill to a mountain. 丘 qiū refers strictly to hills but is not so common in everyday usage.
Diagon Alley	对角巷 Duìjiǎo Xiàng	斜角巷 Xiéjiǎo Xiàng	Diagon Alley, the wizard's shopping alley in London. Both translations have a similar meaning: 'Diagonal Alley' or 'Oblique Angle Alley'. See section on Word Play.
Knockturn Alley	翻倒巷 Fāndǎo Xiàng	夜行巷 Yèxíng Xiàng	The sinister alley running off Diagon Alley. The Mainland translation means 'knock down alley', based on the surface meaning of 'Knockturn'. The Taiwanese translation means 'nocturnal alley', based on the hidden pun. See section on Word Play.
Hogsmeade	霍格莫德 Huògémòdé	活米村 Huómǐ Cūn	The Village of Hogsmeade, located near Hogwarts. The Mainland version keeps the two names Hogwarts and Hogsmeade parallel. The Taiwanese translator chooses characters meaning 'live/alive + rice + village'. Although not very accurate phonetically, the name is much more memorable.
Godric's Hollow	高锥克山谷 Gāozhuīkè Shāngǔ	高錐克洞 Gāozhuīkè Dòng	This name provides strong circumstantial evidence that the Mainland translator relied on the earlier Taiwanese translation of Book 1. Here, 'Godric' is the same in both translations. Compare this with 'Godric Gryffindor' (see the Four Houses), where the Taiwanese translator uses 高錐客 Gāozhuīkè (with a difference of one character) but the Mainland translator uses 戈德里克 Gēdélǐkè instead. 山谷 shāngǔ means 'mountain valley, ravine'. 洞 Dòng means 'hole, cavity'. Neither seems to properly capture the idea of a 'hollow', which is nothing more than a small valley or basin.
Little Hangleton	小汉格顿 Xiǎo Hàngédùn	小漢果頓 Xiǎo Hànguǒdùn	Both transliterate 'Hangleton' phonetically and translate the word 'little' into Chinese as 小 xiǎo.

SCHOOLS

English

Mainland

Taiwan

Notes

Hogwarts

霍格沃茨
Huògéwòcí

霍格華茲
Huògéhuázī

Both are phonetic renditions. The Mainland version is marginally more accurate than the Taiwanese.

Beauxbatons

布斯巴顿
Bùsībàdùn

波巴洞
Bōbādòng

The Mainland translator doesn't seem to realise that the 'x' in 'Beauxbatons' is not pronounced. (A nodding acquaintance with French should be required of all translators of English literature!)

Durmstrang

德姆斯特朗
Démǔsītèlǎng

德姆蘭
Démǔlán

Mainland version: This is one case where shi might be better than si (German 'str' is pronounced 'shtr'). The Taiwanese translator has plumped for brevity over accuracy.