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龙与地下城

English translation: Dragons and Dungeons

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00:47 Aug 10, 2008

Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Games / Video Games / Gaming / Casino

Chinese term or phrase: 龙与地下城

This is the Chinese name for the English-language role-playing game "Dungeons and Dragons". I want to know how the Chinese title directly translates back to English.

Sonja Elen Kisa KudoZ activity Questions: 101 (8 open) (3 without valid answers) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 8 Canada
Local time: 05:16

English translation:Dragons and Dungeons

Explanation:
"龙与地下城" is basically a word-for-word translation of "Dungeons and Dragons", except for the word order.
"Dungeon" is "地下城", or "地牢"(which I think is more authentic Chinese).
"Dragon" is "龙".
"And" is "与".

So if we translate "龙与地下城" back into English, it'll be "Dragons and Dungeons".

Hope this helps.

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Note added at 9小时 (2008-08-10 10:16:37 GMT)
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To be exact, "地下城" is something like "underground castle" or "underground city", while "dungeon" is "地牢".

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Note added at 15小时 (2008-08-10 15:59:49 GMT)
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You're right. There are no word form changes in the Chinese language, which means a noun looks exactly the same, whether being singular or plural. The concept of plurality is usually implied through context.

So, without a context, "龙与地下城" can be translated as either "Dragons and Underground Castles" or "The/A Dragon and the/an Underground Castle."

(BTW, the concept of indefinite/definite article doesn't exist in Chinese either.)

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David Cao

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