《哈利波特》咒語的詞源

《哈利波特》咒語的詞源
The etymology of Harry Potter spells

每個咒語都有段故事……
Every spell has a story to tell…



        《哈利波特》的世界充滿了陌生且神奇的語言，雖然這些詞語聽起來很另類和新穎，但事實上它們都起源於現實世界。咒語也不例外，它們的起源可追溯到拉丁語的詞匯和短語；有些咒語是直譯，有些則是經過謹慎的改造，並且跟其他語言的碎片組合而成。《哈利波特》的咒語是語言改變和演化的優秀例子，以下是五則關於魔法世界最有名咒語的故事……

        Harry Potter is a world of strange and magical language, filled with words that sound alien and new, but in fact have their roots in the real-world. Spells are no exception, with the origins of many incantations harking back to Latin terms and phrases; some spells translate pretty directly, while others have been carefully crafted and assembled from fragments of other languages. It's a fascinating example of how language changes and evolves, so here's a look at five of our favourite stories behind some of the wizarding world's most famous spells…

護法咒
The Patronus Charm

        「Expecto Patronum」是一種可以讓哈利召喚出雄鹿護法的咒語，可粗略地翻譯成「我期待（或等待）一位保護者」——這可說是恰如其份。至於「Patronus 」這個字本身則有段更有趣的歷史。「Patronus」在古羅馬亦有保護者的意思，但箇中含義卻截然不同。在古代羅馬，一位來自上流階級的人士，可成為另一位財力和社會地位都不如他的人的保護者，兩者會締結成「patronage（保護）」關係。「Patronage」這個字很大機會是來自「Pater」——拉丁語中的「父親」。在任何年代，在任何形式，「Patronus」這個字都是跟保護息息相關。

        'Expecto Patronum', the spell that conjures up Harry’s magnificent stag Patronus, roughly translates into 'I expect (or 'await') a guardian' in Latin, which is apt. The actual result of the spell, the Patronus itself, has an even more interesting history. In Ancient Rome, the word 'patronus' meant protector too, but with very different connotations. A patronus in Ancient Rome was someone of a high class who had a 'patronage' relationship with a client, who would usually be less rich, or lower class. In turn, the word ’patronage’ most likely came from the term 'Pater', which means 'father' in Latin. In whatever time, in whatever form, the word 'patronus' always relates to protection.



整整石化
Petrificus Totalus

        全身鎖咒的發音聽起來很像拉丁語，因此你大概已猜到它受到拉丁語很大的影響。不過，這個咒語仍有些許的古希臘語摻集其中。首先，「Petra」這個字源於「Petros」，在希臘語可解作「石頭」。「Ficus」是一個拉丁語後綴詞，意思是「製造」或「做」某些東西。「Totalus」改編自「Totalis」，可解作「完全」或「整體」。因此粗略而言，「Petrificus Totalus」可譯為「製作／石頭／完全地」，而我們敢肯定這個咒語的受害者（例如奈威‧隆巴頓），完全地明白這個咒語。

        The Body-Binding spell is heavily influenced by Latin, as you may have guessed from its very Latin-sounding name. However, there are dashes of Ancient Greek in this incantation too. First, we have 'Petra', which is derived from 'petros' which means 'rock' in Greek. 'Ficus' is a Latin suffix which denotes 'making' or 'doing' something. ‘Totalus’ is a loose reworking of 'totalis', which, once again, is Latin, meaning 'total' or 'entire'. So roughly speaking, ‘Petrificus Totalus’ translates to 'Make rock totally’, which we're sure victims of the curse, such as Neville Longbottom, totally understand all too well.

去去武器走
Expelliarmus

        在整個《哈利波特》系列，「去去武器走」是最常用的咒語之一。而在《死神的聖物》裡，就連食死人也知道這個咒語是哈利的常用招式。我們已經看過這個咒語很多次了，但到底它是怎樣組成的呢？「Expel」這個字由兩個拉丁詞語所組成，可追溯到十四世紀的中古英語。「Ex」的意思是「out（逐出）」，而「Pellere」的意思是「to drive（驅動）」，因此兩個字加起來便是「Expel（驅逐）」。「Armus」聽起來很像身體的某個部位——「Arm（手臂）」，或是專指肩關節。由於「arm」跟拉丁語詞匯「arma（武器）」很相似，所以在最後也演變出「武裝」的意思。（例如 to 'arm' yourself with a wand 即是「用魔杖武裝你自己」）把這些音節串連在一起後，我們得出一句粗略譯成的短語——「驅逐武器」，而這正正是「去去武器走」會做的事。

        Expelliarmus is one of the most-used spells across all seven Harry Potter books, to the extent that Harry is known by the Death Eaters for using it during Deathly Hallows. We've seen the word so many times, but how did it come together? ‘Expel’ harks back to 1300s Middle English, where two Latin terms were combined to create it. 'Ex' means 'out' and 'pellere' means 'to drive', which finally formed the word ‘expel’. Its definition in basic terms means to 'drive out'. 'Armus', as you may expect, is indeed Latin for a similar sounding part of the body: the arm, or specifically the shoulder joint. In time, the term 'arm' took on combat meaning (such as, to 'arm' yourself with a wand) with the Latin term 'arma' meaning weapon. Piecing the syllables back together, we have a rough translation of the phrase 'drive out weapon' – which is precisely what Expelliarmus does.



路摸思和吶喀嘶
Lumos and Nox

        路摸思和吶喀嘶是一對姊妹咒語，分別代表給予和奪走光明。「Lumos（路摸思）」來自十九世紀的拉丁詞語——「lumen」，意思是「light（光明）」。在後面加上後綴語「os」可解作「需要某些東西」，因此整句話的意思是「需要光明」。「Nox（吶喀嘶）」在拉丁語解作「黑夜」，它的詞根可追溯到希臘神話。「Nyx（倪克斯）」跟「Nox（吶喀嘶）」有密切關係，倪克斯是希臘神話裡黑夜女神的名字——一個使人毛骨悚然的陰暗人物，以擁有強大力量聞名，就連威武的宙斯也曾經被她恐嚇。

        Sister spells Lumos and Nox give light and take it away, respectively. Lumos could well come from the 19th-century Latin word ‘lumen’, which simply means 'light'. Adding the Latin suffix 'os' means to 'have something’: to have light, in this instance. Nox is Latin for 'night', but is also rooted in Greek mythology. 'Nyx', closely related to 'Nox', is the name for the Greek goddess of night: a feared, shadowy figure who was known as a powerful force, and even intimidated the mighty Zeus.



撕淌三步殺
Sectumsempra

        這個以「S」字開頭的咒語，跟一個名字裡同樣有「S」音的男人有關——賽佛勒斯‧石內卜先生（Severus Snape）。不過這個咒語是如此地複雜，又具有蓄意的致命性，其命名靈感應該不止這麼簡單吧？深入地研究，我們會發現石內卜也對拉丁語情有獨鍾。他這個自創咒語的前半部份「Sectum」在拉丁語解作「被切割」，而「賽佛勒斯」這個名字本身也有「切割（sever）」的意思——實在是有趣的用詞選擇。

        至於這個詞語的後半部份簡直是神來之筆。雖然「sempra」不是拉丁語，但它跟「semper（永遠）」這個字很接近，我們可在拉丁短語「semper fidelis」找到這個字。當你知道這句短語的意思後，你會發現它真的是意味深長——「永遠忠誠」。不覺得這跟石內卜還挺相稱的嗎？

        A word dominated by the letter S was related to a man with a similar example of sibilance in his own name – Mr Severus Snape. But surely Snape must have had more inspiration than that for such a complex spell name with such deadly intentions? Digging deeper, we can see that Snape was fond of Latin too, seeing as the first half of his self-made curse, 'sectum', is Latin for 'having been cut’: an interesting choice for a man who has the word 'sever' in his own name.

        The second part of the word, however, is fascinating. Because although 'sempra' isn't a Latin word, it is very close to the word 'semper', which was known in the Latin phrase 'semper fidelis'. This becomes a particularly big deal once you realise what it means: ‘always loyal’. Pretty perfect, don't you think?



原文港口鑰