Harry Potter in Chinese, Japanese & Vietnamese Translation
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Chapter Titles in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese


Chapter 11: The Firebolt





Chinese (Mainland) 火弩箭
Huǒ nǔjiàn
huǒ = 'fire'.
弩箭 nǔjiàn = 'crossbow arrow'.
Fire crossbow-arrow
Chinese (Taiwan) 火閃電
Huǒ shǎndiàn
huǒ = 'fire'.
閃電 shǎndiàn = 'lightning'.
Fire lightning
Japanese 炎の雷ファイアボルト
Honō no ikazuchi / Faiaboruto
honō = 'flames, fire'.
no = connecting particle
ikazuchi = 'thunderbolt'.
ファイアボルト Faiaboruto = 'Firebolt' (English).
Flame thunderbolt / Firebolt
Vietnamese Tia chớp tia chớp = 'lightning bolt'. Lightning bolt

The 'Firebolt' is Harry's new broomstick, which is translated semantically into all three languages. The Taiwanese and Japanese versions fairly literally translate the name as 'fire' + 'lightning bolt'. The words used for 'fire' and 'bolt' in Japanese are both fine-sounding poetic words, not common everyday words.

The Mainland Chinese version has departed from the 'lightning bolt' simile to compare the broom to an arrow (or 'bolt') that has been shot from a crossbow.

The Vietnamese ignores the 'fire' component and translates only the word 'bolt (of lightning)'.

The furigana above the words 炎の雷 honō no ikazuchi indicate that they should be read with the English pronunciation Faiaboruto 'firebolt'. This manages to provide the meaning of the name in Japanese while also giving the original English pronunciation. (See above, Chapter 3, for furigana).

An advertisement for the Firebolt appears at Chapter 4. The text of the advertisement can be found at The Firebolt in the Passages section.


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