English localization of Zhongli’s and Nahida’s Archon titles, Genshin Impact Character Title Localization in General, and Zhongli’s title of Yanwang Dijun
I was reading the wiki page for the current Archons (and their names & titles) and the more I think about their titles the more I feel the English localization of Zhongli’s title is strange.
Here (just the ones from the five released regions):
.
Venti/Barbatos, Lord Barbatos, God of Freedom, Anemo Archon, of Mondstadt
Zhongli/Morax, Rex Lapis, God of Contracts, Geo Archon, of Liyue
Raiden Ei/Beelzebul, Raiden Shogun, God of Eternity, Electro Archon, of Inazuma
Nahida/Buer, Lesser Lord Kusanali, God of Wisdom, Dendro Archon, of Sumeru
Furina/Focalors, Lady Furina, God of Justice, Hydro Archon, of Fontaine
.
….face in hands. Why is Zhongli’s Archon title 岩王帝君 (Yanwang Dijun / Yan3wang3 Di4jun1) officially localized in Latin (with the meaning of King of Stone). Of course I’m used to seeing it because he’s consistently referred to as Rex Lapis in English, but if you really think about it:
“Hello, I’m a god in what’s basically a Chinese xianxia setting. I’m the god of stone and contracts, and I know a lot about the traditions of my nation, which is based on Chinese culture. For some time, I was seen as the leader or even emperor of my nation. I’m worshipped with a Latin title by my own people”
…
(I’ll explain the Chinese title’s meaning further below.)
-
Some time ago, I watched the first few minutes of the Sumeru Archon Quest in Japanese. Paimon mentions the Dendro Archon by title: クラクサナリデビ.
In romaji, this is Kura Kusanari Debi. (According to her wiki page, literally speaking, this title means Little Kusanali Devi.)
I can’t confirm its accuracy, but the etymology section of her page says this:
.
The name Kusanali likely refers to the Kusanāḷi-Jātaka, one of the poems within the Jātaka, a series of 547 Buddhist poems detailing the previous births of Buddha. The Kusanāḷi-Jātaka specifically details the encounter with a tree sprite.
"Kusanāḷi" itself is derived from the Pali words kusa ("kusa-grass," a sacred plant used in Hindu ceremonies) and nāḷi ("a hollow stalk or tube").
.
and
.
In Korean, the name is 쿠사나리 데비 Kusanari Debi. The word 데비 Debi derived from the Sanskrit or Pali word devī ("goddess" or "queen").
In Japanese, the name is クラクサナリデビ Kura Kusanari Debi, where デビ Debi may be of the same derivation as above, and クラ Kura may be derived from the Pali word khudda ("small", "inferior" or "low"). Kura may also be derived from the Persian word خدا Khuda ("Lord" or "God").
.
Genshin Impact doesn’t have Sanskrit as an available subtitle language but I wonder what would her title be in Sanskrit…? And if any of the official subtitle languages are similar to a theoretical Sanskrit title…
-
Oh, also, a note on character titles in Genshin Impact:
Since the original language is in Chinese, it seems most of the time a (non-Liyue) character’s Chinese title will not be a phonetic transcription. Instead, the Chinese title will be based on meaning, and the English localization will likely take that meaning and either localize it into English, or into the language “native” to the in-game region (and real-life culture).
For example, a Fontainian title, a Mondstadtian title, and a Liyue title would all have Chinese meaning in the Chinese version, but they’ll probably be localized into either English for all three, or French, German, and Chinese pinyin respectively (….or Latin. It’s not very consistent in Liyue) in the English version.
Here:
.
Lyney’s Chinese title (from his key visual) 惑光幻戏 (Magic of Puzzling Lights) is localized as “Spectacle of Phantasmagoria” in the English version, but theoretically they could also localize it into French as “Spectacle de fantasmagorie” (as it is in the official French version)
Albedo’s Chinese title 白垩之子 (Son of Chalk) is localized as the German “Kreideprinz” (Chalk Prince) but theoretically they could also could localize it into English as “Chalk Prince”
.
(What’s a good example for a Liyue character that doesn’t need extensive explanation on Daoism… Ah whatever. I’ll explain Zhongli’s own Archon title.)
.
Zhongli’s title as an Archon is 岩王帝君 (Yanwang Dijun, roughly meaning God of King of Stone). The first two hanzi characters mean stone and king (hence the English localization of Rex Lapis, Latin for King of Stone). But that lacks the nuance and cultural significance in the Chinese title.
.
帝君 (dijun) is (I believe…) a Daoist title of reverence added to a god’s name. So putting it together, 岩王帝君 can either be localized into pinyin as Yanwang Dijun (in a similar way that MDZS’s 夷陵老祖 Yiling Laozu is known as the Yiling Patriarch)… Or Lord Stone King if you really want but that has different religious connotations…
帝君 is similar to 真君 (zhenjun, another Daoist title for gods) which is often used for the Liyue 仙 (xian, localized as Adepti) characters. (In English, an adept, plural form adepts, refers to someone who’s very skilled at something. It seems in the game 仙 includes both Adepti with animal forms and Adepti with human forms, and 仙人 xianren specifically refers to Adepti who appear human, like Xiao.)
39 notes
·
View notes