Chapter 18: Dobby's Reward

 

(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)	多比的报偿 Duōbǐ de bàocháng	多比 Duōbǐ = 'Dobby'. 的 de = connecting particle 报偿 bàocháng = 'recompense'.	Dobby's recompense
Chinese (Taiwan)	多比的獎賞 Duōbǐ de jiǎngshǎng	多比 Duōbǐ = 'Dobby'. 的 de = connecting particle 獎賞 jiǎngshǎng = 'reward'.	Dobby's reward
Japanese	ドビーのごほうび Dobii no go-hoobi	ドビー Dobii = 'Dobby'. の no = connecting particle ごほうび go-hōbi = 'reward'	Dobby's reward
Vietnamese	Phần thưởng cho Dobby	phần thưởng (分賞) = 'reward, recompense'. cho = 'for'. Dobby (pronunciation: Đốp-bi).	Reward for Dobby

The Chinese and Taiwanese versions use different words for 'reward'. 报偿 bàocháng means 'to repay, recompense'. 獎賞 jiǎngshǎng means 'award, reward'.

For go-hōbi, the Japanese version uses hiragana (ごほうび) rather than Chinese characters (ご褒美), an interesting illustration of the subtleties involved in Japanese writing. Hiragana is chosen partly because the characters for hōbi (褒美) are rather difficult and not commonly used, but also because go-hōbi (which is made up of the honorific go- plus the word hōbi 'reward') is a common everyday expression that is used even to children. By showing it in hiragana, the translator conveys the everyday tone of 'a reward for being good boy'. Using characters would have conveyed a stiff, official impression. (For information on the Japanese writing system, see CJV Writing Systems).

(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 17

Title, Book 3