donjon #3
Blueprint for new Amagasaki Castle shown in Hyogo
AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Prefecture--After almost 150 years, a donjon is on track to rise proudly over the ruins of Amagasaki Castle once again, with expected completion in 2018.
The city government here unveiled an artist's rendition on Aug. 30 of the rebuilt keep, which will include an elevator and a viewing and an exhibition room.
In November last year, Akira Abo, founder of the former Midori Co., an Amagasaki-based home appliance chain, announced that he would reconstruct the donjon at his own expense.
He reached an agreement with the city to donate it after rebuilding it.
Around one-fourth of the main compound including the approximately 23-meter-high castle tower that include stone walls and part of a corridor called a “watariyagura” (roofed passage), which connect to the castle keep, will be reconstructed. The reconstruction work will begin by the end of December.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201609090069.html
今回気になった単語はdonjonです。
「ダンジョン」といえばゲームなどのイメージから「地下」や「迷宮」が浮かびますが、日本のお城に合った良い訳出はどのようになるのでしょうか。
Oxford dictionaries.com.でdonjon /ˈdʌndʒ(ə)n/を調べてみると“The great tower or innermost keep of a castle.”とあり、同じ発音のdungeon /ˈdʌn(d)ʒ(ə)n/は“A strong underground prison cell, especially in a castle”と定義されていました。
ある一説では、どちらもラテン語の「領主」を表す“dominus”からきているそうで、中世では「天守」を意味したそうです。
よってここでは「お城の天守閣」を表していると思われます。日本の天守閣は人を閉じ込めるのに使われたのではなく、様々な用途があったそうですが、最終的には権力の象徴として建てられていたようです。(flyingbird)
