Botanica

I would draw them forever XD

Here’s a comparison:

THE COSMERE

Cosmere - 三界宙 (sān jiè zhòu)
It means “a universe with/consists of three realms”.
三 - three · 界 - realm/world · 宙 - universe/infinite time

Adonalsium - 阿多拿西 (ā duō ná xī) [transliterated]

Shard - 碎瑛 (suì yīng) / 神瑛 (shén yīng)
The former means just the power, while the latter means the person who holds the power and then becomes god.
瑛 - jade-like stone · 碎 - shattered/broken · 神 - god/spirit/magic/divine/talented
Most people’s canon image of a “Shard” is something like a piece of crystal, so we chose a beautiful local word, whose meaning is similar to this.

Investiture - 神能 (shén néng) / 授能术 (shòu néng shù)
The former means just the energy that infuses the Cosmere, while the latter means its manifestations.
能 - energy · 授 - invest · 术 - skill/art/method/technique

We often use 术 to describe a magic system.

Examples

Allomancy - 镕金术 (róng jīn shù) · Feruchemy - 藏金术 (cáng jīn shù) · Hemalurgy - 血金术 (xuè jīn shù)
The first means “Using this magic (术), the Allomancers burn (镕) metals (金).”.
The second means “Using this magic, the Feruchemists store (藏) things in metal.”.
The third means “This magic focuses on metals and is connected to blood (血).” I think it can also be translated as “盗金术 (dào jīn shù )”, which means “With this magic, a type of metal can steal (盗) things.”.

Hoid - 须空 (xū kōng)

I once mentioned that Hoid has (at least) five names here (须空, 霍德, 霍依德, 霍伊得 and 哈德), which is a huge embarrassment for us translators and those publishers, due to the lack of interaction and Cosmere continuity control. But thankfully the publisher who does SA has already bought the copyright to all of Brandon’s Cosmere and non-Cosmere books, so I’m helping the editors with the continuity work now.

Okay, back to the main topic. For “Hoid”, most of us (I mean the majority of mainland Sanderfans) accept “须空”, which appears in WoK. It’s NOT a simple transliteration. The translator explained his reasons once. Hoid (须空) looks like Void (虚空), so he took 虚空 out, replacing 虚 (empty) with 须 (must). Note that these two characters have the same pronunciation (xū).

His alias Wit is translated as “知策 (zhī cè)”. With this name, he would sound like an imperial advisor in ancient China =P
知 - knowledge/wisdom · 策 - plan/plot/scheme/tactic

The Stormlight Archive - 飓光志 (jù guāng zhì)
飓 - storm/hurrican · 光 - light · 志 - archive/record

Roshar - 柔刹 (róu shā/chà) [transliterated]
It is transliterated, but if we look at the word carefully, we will find something interesting, also brilliant.
柔: It means soft. There are 矛 and 木 in 柔, and 矛 means spear, symbolizing Kaladin.
刹: When it reads shā, it means “stop/brake”. When it reads chà, it comes from Sanskrit, referring to an instant, Buddhist temple or land/world. There are 杀 (shā) (killing) and 刂 (dāo) (knife/sword) in 刹, symbolizing killing/war/struggle/conflict and Shardblades.

Urithiru - 乌有斯麓 (wū yǒu sī lù) [transliterated]
It is transliterated, but I think the word choice is just awesome as hell, because it also has a meaning!
“乌有斯麓” means “乌有 (There’s no) 斯 (such) 麓 (mountain).” (Actually 麓 means the foot of a mountain, but we can just assume it means a mountain here. Mountains are high, so is Urithiru tower.) This translation fits the fact that its exact location is (currently) unknown.

The Way of Kings - 王者之路 (wáng zhě zhī lù)
It means “The Kings’ Way”.
王者 (or just 王) - king · 之 - represents third person objective case · 路 - way/road

Words of Radiance - 光辉真言 (guāng huī zhēn yán)
It means “Radiant True Words”.
光辉 - radiance · 真 - truth · 言 - word
The Chinese title should correspond to the translation of “Knights Radiant” (光辉骑士团) and “Immortal Words” (不朽真言) sworn by them.

Themes
Series Title and Book Titles | Character and Place Names | History | Weather and Environment | Lifeforms | Culture | Magic | Curses

1. Series Title and Book Titles

See former post.
For book three, if the final title is Oathbringer, it should be translated as 渡誓 (dù shì).
渡 - bring/lead/ferry sb. through · 誓 - oath/promise

Additional: Other Cosmere Series/Stories
Elantris - 伊岚翠 [transliterated]
伊 - that/he or she, often appears in ancient prose · 岚 - mountain haze · 翠 - emerald green
Mistborn - 迷雾之子 (Children of Mist/Fog)
This is the same as the German title Kinder des Nebels.
Warbreaker - 破战者
War(战)break(破)er(者) - The One Who Breaks the War

2. Character and Place Names

Most are transliterated. The translator should have an inkling of how Semitic languages work. Next year I might teach myself some basic Hebrew and Arabic (or even Polynesian languages). Usually audiobook helps A LOT. (You know, Thaylen words and Unkalaki words are quite challenging.) When translating, I listen to it and try hard to catch the exact pronunciation of each new name or term. It’s super tiring, but still interesting.

Examples

Kaladin Stormblessed - 飓风恩护者卡拉丁 (jù fēng ēn hù zhě kǎ lā dīng)
Meaning: Storm(飓风)blessed(恩护者)(The One Who is Blessed by Storms) Kaladin(卡拉丁) (Stormfather! Kaladin sounds just like a pinyin to us!)
Szeth-Son-Son-Vallano - 瓦拉诺之孙泽斯 (wǎ lā nuò zhī sūn zé sī)
Meaning: Vallano’s Grandson(瓦拉诺之孙) Szeth(泽斯)
Taravangian - 塔拉梵吉安 (tǎ lā fàn jí ān)
Talenelat'Elin - 塔拉内拉塔艾林 (tǎ lā nèi lā tǎ ài lín)
Note: Among those symmetrical words, this (TALENELAT - 塔拉内拉塔) is probably the only one that can remain symmetrical after translation, because of the difference between English and Chinese. (Sigh.) When you read Chinese SA, the symmetry is not very obvious. We have to add footnotes to make readers understand.
+ + +
Shallan Davar - 沙兰·达瓦 (shā lán dá wǎ )
Torol Sadeas - 托洛尔·撒迪亚斯 (tuō luò ěr sā dí yà sī )
Adolin Kholin - 阿多林·寇林 (ā duō lín kòu lín)
Meridas Amaram - 梅里达斯·亚马兰 (méi lǐ dá sī yà mǎ lán )
Note: “·” is a Chinese punctuation. When translating foreign names, we use it to separate the first name, (middle name) and last name, since there’s basically no space in Chinese texts. But the case is diifferent when it comes to “Kaladin Stormblessed”, because “Stormblessed” is just a title, and it should be placed before the name.
Note: When the first letter of a term is A, we tend to transliterate it in two ways:
1) a - ah (See Adolin.) But in fact, Adolin should be pronounced as AY-do-lin.
2) a - ya (See Amaram.) This usage comes from dialects. I live in Shanghai, and the people here who speak dialect do this very often. In Mandarin, we don’t speak like that.
+ + +
For Roshar and Urithiru, see former post.
Alethkar - 阿勒斯卡 (ā lè sī kǎ)
Jah Keved - 雅克维德 (yǎ kè wéi dé)
Azir - 亚泽尔 (yà zé ěr)
See? A-YA, here we go again.
Kharbranth - 卡哈巴兰斯 (kǎ hā bā lán sī)
Thaylenah - 泰勒拿 (tài lè ná)
Shinovar - 深国 (shēn guó)
Meaning: The Nation(国) of the Shin(深) People
Origins - 飓源 (jù yuán)
Meaning: The Origin(源) of Storms(飓)

3. History

Desolation - 灭世 (miè shì)
Meaning: (The Event that) Destroys(灭) the World(世)
Everstorm - 灭世风暴 (miè shì fēng bào)
Meaning: The Storm that Destroys the World
Recreance - 光辉变节 (guāng huī biàn jiē)
Meaning: (The Day) The Radiants(光辉) Betray(变节) (the Humankind)
Aharietiam - 亚哈里提安 (yà hā lǐ tí ān) [transliterated]

4. Weather and Environment

Highstorm - 飓风 (jù fēng)
Meaning: Severe Storm → Hurricane
Stormlight - 飓光 (jù guāng)
Crem - 飓砂 (jù shā)
Meaning: Grits(砂) From the Storm(飓)(water)

5. Lifeforms

Cremling - 飓虫 (jù chóng)
Meaning: Storm(飓)-Bug(虫)
Chull - 红甲蟹 (hóng jiǎ xiè)
Meaning: Crabs(蟹) with Red(红) Shells/Carapaces(甲)
Ryshadium - 雷沙迪乌马 (léi shā dí wū mǎ) [transliterated, but we have “horse”(马) at the end]
Skyeel - 飞鳗 (fēi mán)
Meaning: Flying(飞) Eel(鳗)
Thunderclast - 雷岩兽 (léi yán shòu)
Meaning: Thunder(雷)-Rock(岩)-Beast(兽)
Parshmen - 仆族 (pú zú) [part transliterated, part paraphased]
Meaning: Servant(仆) Peoples(族)
Parshendi - 仆族智者 (pú zú zhì zhě)
Meaning: The Parshmen(仆族) Who Can Think(智者)

6. Culture

Freehand - 闲手 (xián shǒu)
Meaning: Free(闲) Hand(手)
Safehand - 禁手 (jìn shǒu)
Meaning: Forbidden(禁) Hand(手)

7. Magic

1) Surgebinding
Surge - 飓能 (jù néng)
Meaning: Storm(飓)-Energy(能) - Energy and Power From Storm(light)
Surgebinding - 飓能术 (jù néng shù)
Meaning: The Art(术) of (manipulating) Surges
We make this similar to Metallic Arts.
Soulcasting - 塑魂术 (sù hún shù)
Meaning: The Art of Molding(塑) Souls(魂)

2) Knights Radiant 光辉骑士团 (guāng huī qí shì tuán)
Meaning: The Order(团) of the Knights(骑士) Radiant(光辉)
Windrunners - 风行骑士 (fēng xíng qí shì)
Meaning: The Knights(骑士) Who Walk(行) the Winds(风)
Dustbringers - 归尘骑士 (guī chén qí shì)
Meaning: The Knights Who Turn Things (Back) into Dust(尘) (This process is called 归.)
Stonewards - 护地骑士 (hù dì qí shì)
Meaning: The Knights Who Guard/Protect(护) the (Stone) Ground(地)

3) Voidbinding - 虚魂术 (xū hún shù)
Meaning: The Art Belongs to Void(虚) Spirits(魂)

4) Old Magic - 古魔法 (gǔ mó fǎ)
Meaning: Old(古) Magic(魔法)

5) Fabrials - 法器 (fǎ qì) [part transliterated, part paraphased]
法 - magic 器 - tool/device/utensil/implement

8. Extra: Curses

Brandon invented many unique curses, which are a big challenge to us tranlators. The translator of WoK and I, we tried VERY hard to creat Chinese analogues.

Examples
(There’re just too many curses. This time we talk about storm-related ones first.)

Storms! Storm it! Storm you! Storming XXX!
- 风操的！(Winds Fxck It/You/Sth.!)
- 风杀的！(Winds Kill It/You/Sth.!)
- 吃风去！（You Go Eat the Winds!）
- 风打雷劈的！(Winds and Thunders Strike It/You/Sth. Good!)
- 飓风啊！(Oh My Storms!)
- 飓风在上！（Storms Above!）
There’re also other variations, such as “Your Brain is Completely Broken by the Winds!” and “Shut Up Your Fxcking-Storm-Mouth!”.

Among them, “风操的” is the most vulgar, so we usually let those slaves, sailors, bridgemen and soilders say it. When it comes to nobles and scholars, we usually let them say the last ones, which are mildy more cultivated. But it is not always settled, since everyone can lose control. We need to decide a character’s personality first, then guess their emotions from the context.

Yesterday I was asked to draw a Hoid-punching-Kelsier meme (sorry):