Chapter 12: The Triwizard Tournament
| Simplified Chinese (Mandarin: China) | ||
| 三强争霸赛 Sānqiáng zhēngbà-sài |
三强
sānqiáng = 'tri-team, tri-contestant' (sān = 'three', qiáng = 'strong'.) 争霸 zhēngbà = 'struggle for hegemony'. 赛 sài = 'competition'. |
The Tri-contestant Tournament |
| Traditional Chinese (Mandarin: Taiwan) | ||
| 三巫鬥法大賽 Sānwū dòufǎ dàsài |
三巫 sānwū = 'three wizard'. 鬥法 dòufǎ = 'exercise magic powers against each other' 大賽 dàsài = 'big competition' |
The Three-Wizard Magic Powers Contest |
| Japanese | ||
San dai mahō gakkō taikō shi-ai / Torai-wizādo tōnamento |
三
san = 'three'. 大 dai = 'large, great'. 魔法 mahō = 'magic'. 学校 gakkō = 'school'. 対校 taikō = 'against school' = 'interschool'. 試合 shi-ai = 'match, tournament'. トライウィザード torai-wizādo = 'Triwizard' トーナメント tōnamento = 'tournament' |
The Three Great Magic Schools Interschool Match / Triwizard Tournament |
| Korean | ||
| 트리위저드 시합 Teuliwijeodeu sihab |
트리위저드 teuli-wijeodeu = 'triwizard' 시합 (試合) sihab = 'match'. |
Triwizard Contest |
| Vietnamese (Chinese characters show etymology) | ||
| Thi đấu tam pháp thuật | thi đấu = 'competition'. tam (三) = 'three'. pháp thuật (法術) = 'magic'. |
The Three Magic Competition |
| Mongolian (new) | ||
| Гурван шидтэний тэмцээн Gurvan shidtenii temtseen |
гурав gurav = 'three' (latent 'n' form). шидтэн shidten = 'magician (one with magic), wizard' (-ий -ii Genitive form). тэмцээн temtseen = 'contest'. |
Three Wizards' Contest |
The Triwizard Tournament is a tournament held among three major European wizarding schools: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. One contestant is chosen from each school to perform three tasks.
How is 'triwizard' translated?
The term 'triwizard' consists of 'tri' (derived from Greek and Latin) meaning 'three' + 'wizard'. It refers to the three contestants (wizards) chosen from the three wizarding schools.
- The Chinese (Taiwan) and Mongolian translations render 'triwizard' literally as 'three wizard'.
- The Taiwanese translation uses 三巫 sānwū 'three wizard'.
- The Mongolian translation uses гурван шидтэн gurvan shidten 'three magician'. (Шидтэн shidten is шид shid 'magic' + -т -t 'having' + -эн -en 'people, those'.)
- The Taiwanese translation uses 三巫 sānwū 'three wizard'.
- The Vietnamese varies 'three wizard' to tam pháp thuật 'three magic'. For 'three', the translator uses the borrowed Chinese numeral tam (from 三 Mandarin sān) in preference to the native Vietnamese word ba, since tam is more appropriate to creating formal expressions.
- The Korean translation simply transliterates English 'triwizard' as 트리위저드 teuli-wijeodeu. The Korean translator interprets the pronunciation of 'tri-' as 'tree' rather than 'try'.
- The Japanese translator uses a mixture of explanation and transliteration. 'Triwizard' is framed as a contest among 三大魔法学校 san dai mahō gakkō 'three great magic schools'. The original English pronunciation is shown in rubi above the Japanese text as トライウィザード torai-wizādo.
- The Mainland Chinese translator abandons any attempt to render 'wizard', instead using the term 三强 sān-qiáng 'three strong', a contest among three powerful contenders. This pattern is commonly encountered in the language of sport, e.g., a 4-nation soccer tournament is routinely known as 四强比赛 sìqiáng bǐsài in Chinese.
How is 'tournament' translated?
A tournament is a series of contests between a number of competitors, competing for an overall prize.
- Three translations use straightforward terms meaning 'match' or competition.
- The Korean translation uses 시합 sihab (試合, from Japanese) 'match'.
- The Vietnamese uses thi đấu, referring to a contest or competition. This is composed of thi (possibly 試 'to run a race') + đấu (possibly 鬥/鬦/鬪 'to dispute, to fight, to wrestle, combat').
- The Mongolian refers to a тэмцээн temtseen 'contest, competition'.
- Other translations use more elaborated terms.
- The Mainland Chinese translation uses 争霸赛 zhēngbà-sài, literally 'struggle-for-hegemony contest', a suitably exaggerated expression for a sporting tournament.
- The Chinese translation from Taiwan turns to a traditional Chinese term to describe the contest. Yes, the Chinese term 鬥法 dòufǎ actually does mean 'combat each other with magic'. 鬥 dòu means 'to contest, contend'; 法 fǎ is related to the 法 fǎ of 法術 fǎshù 'magic'. 大賽 dàsài means 'big competition'. So the title means 'big magic competition contest'.
- The Japanese version takes as its model interscholastic or intercollegiate tournaments (対校試合 taikō shi-ai), not forgetting, of course, to add the pronunciation トーナメント tōnamento in rubi lettering.
(Korean appears thanks to "Hiro".)
(Detailed notes on the chapter can be found at Harry Potter Lexicon)
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