The Names of Gadgets and Objects in Harry Potter
Dài yá fēidié
|带 dài =
'to carry, to bear'.
牙 yá = 'tooth, fang, tusk'.
飞碟 fēidié = 'flying small plate, flying saucer, UFO'.
|Teeth-bearing flying saucer|
|長 zhǎng =
牙齒 yáchǐ = 'tooth/teeth'.
的 de = connecting particle
飛盤 fēipán = 'flying plate' = 'Frisbee'.
|Flying plate that has grown teeth|
|噛みつき kami-tsuki =
'biting' (form of the compound verb 噛みつく kamitsuku,
composed of 噛む kamu
'to bite' and つく tsuku
'to attach onto or attack'. This form directly attaches to the following
フリスビー furisubii = 'frisbee' (from English).
|Vietnamese||Dĩa có Răng nanh||dĩa =
có = 'to have, with'.
răng nanh = 'canine tooth, eyetooth'.
|Plate with canine teeth|
Along with the Ever-Bashing Boomering, this is an item that is banned from Hogwarts in Harry's 4th year at the request of Filch (in Book 4 Chapter 12 The Triwizard Tournament). See Harry Potter Lexicon, Magical Items and Devices.
Fanged Frisbee features Rowling's trademark alliteration.
'Fanged' means 'growing or having fangs'. 'Fangs' are teeth, but not just any old teeth, they are the ferocious teeth of wild animals.
In the Mainland translation, the fanged Frisbee is described as 带牙 dài yá 'bearing teeth'. 牙 yá is a general word that can refer to anything from teeth to fangs to elephant tusks or ivory. (Ivory is known as 象牙 xiàngyá 'elephant tooth' but objects of ivory are regularly described with just the word 牙 yá).
Although 牙 yá is quite acceptable in referring to teeth, if necessary teeth can be more precisely described as 牙齿 yáchǐ (牙齒 in traditional characters). This is the word used by the Taiwanese translator, who describes the Frisbee as having 'grown teeth' 長牙齒 zhǎng yáchǐ. This implies that the Frisbee is somehow alive, since it is a sign of a living thing that it can grow (長 zhǎng) hair and teeth.
The Japanese translator avoids any mention of teeth (歯 ha) or fangs (牙 kiba), preferring to say that the Frisbee 'bites' (噛みつく kamitsuku).
The Vietnamese word for tooth is răng, but the translator makes an attempt to translate the concept of 'fang' rather than just 'tooth' by using the Vietnamese word for the canine teeth (or eyeteeth), răng nanh.
A frisbee is a round plastic object, shaped something like a plate, which is thrown with a spin and resembles a flying saucer as it glides through the air and then hovers gently to earth. Like the yo-yo and the hoola hoop, it is a favourite with kids. (See here for the history of the Frisbee.)
Children under the influence of commercial Western culture are quite familiar with the Frisbee. The Japanese translator thus uses the word フリスビー furisubii, which is known to all Japanese children. The Taiwanese translator uses 飛盤 fēipán (飞盘 in Simplified characters), which is how the Frisbee is known in Chinese.
The Mainland Chinese translator uses the term 飞碟 fēidié 'flying small plate' to translate Frisbee. This is an alternative term to 飛盤 (飞盘) fēipán. (According to dictionaries, 飞碟 fēidié 'flying small plate' refers to 'skeet shooting' or, alternatively, to 'flying saucers / UFOs'. However, the actuality is that飞碟 fēidié is also used for the Frisbee).
The Vietnamese version translates Frisbee as dĩa 'plate'. There is no reference to Frisbee as a flying toy. This solution resembles the translation of 'boomerang' in Ever-Bashing Boomerang as 'cane' or 'stick'. (Where Vietnamese wish to refer to the Frisbee, they use the English word Frisbee or dĩa Frisbee (Frisbee plate).