HARRY POTTER PROJECT
envelope

Defensive Magical Theory

Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China)
魔法防御理论
Mófǎ fángyù lǐlùn
魔法 mófǎ = 'magic'.
防御 fángyù = 'defence'.
理论 lǐlùn = 'theory'.
Theory of magical defence
Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan)
魔法防禦理論
Mófǎ fángyù lǐlùn
魔法 mófǎ = 'magic'.
防禦 fángyù = 'defence'.
理論 lǐlùn = 'theory'.
Theory of magical defence
Japanese
防衛術の理論
Bōei-jutsu no riron
防衛術 bōei-jutsu = 'art/technique of defence'.
no = connecting particle
理論 riron = 'theory'.
Theory of the technique of defence
Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology)
Lý Thuyết Pháp Thuật Phòng Thủ

Lý Thuyết Phòng Thủ Pháp Thuật

Lý Thuyết Pháp Thuật Phòng Vệ
lý thuyết (理說) = 'theory'.
pháp thuật (法術) = 'magic'.
phòng thủ (防守) = 'to defend, defence'.

phòng vệ (防衛) = 'defence, protection'.
Theory of defensive magic

Theory of magical defence

Theory of defensive magic

A straightforward translation in which both the Mainland and Taiwanese translators arrive at the same title independently. The Japanese omits the word 'magic' from the title.

All three languages use words containing the character fáng, 'to defend', although the words themselves are mostly different. Chinese uses 防御 fángyù, Japanese uses 防衛 bōei, Vietnamese uses phòng thủ (防守) and phòng vệ (防衛) .

The Vietnamese translator manages to come up with three different titles at different places, in one place reversing the words for 'defence' and 'magic', at another using a different word for 'defence'. All three words of the Vietnamese title are Chinese-derived vocabulary but not all of them are the normally expected modern Chinese translations of the English word 'theory', 'magic', or 'defence'.

Category: Theory of Magic

arrow up