7．3．2　Subtitling字幕翻译

7．3．2　Subtitling字幕翻译

One of the core multimedia translation forms is subtitling，which refers to translation of the films dialogue in text form usually shown at the bottom of the screen．The text is written in the target language so that people can understand the movie．According to Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies ，“Subtitles，sometimes referred to as captions，are transcriptions of film or TV dialogue，presented simultaneously on the screen．” Almost every form of video requires subtitling in multiple languages．International markets are of critical importance for the success of educational and entertainment video content，and as such，subtitling is an essential part of reaching these international markets．Subtitling involves much more than a simple translation．It involves a highly technical and precise process to ensure that the audience is able to understand every scene with spoken or written content．The text versions of the spoken word of a video or a film are the subtitle or the caption．Subtitling allows the content of audio and video to be accessible not only to those who cannot hear the audio but also to those who may not be fluent in the language in which the audio is presented．

Subtitling is a part of multimedia translation and plays an important role in helping clients reach diverse，global audience．Studios，broadcasters，government，web casters，film and TV producers and syndicators are all required to capture and reflect content with the highest degrees of accuracy．Linguistically，two types of subtitling can be distinguished，one is intralingual subtitling and the other is interlingual subtitling．Intralingual subtitling includes “subtitling of domestic programs for the deaf and hard of hearing，subtitling of foreign-language programs for language learners．Intralingual subtitling is vertical，in the sense that it involves taking speech down in writing，changing mode but not language．Interlingual subtitling is diagonal，in the sense that the subtitler crosses over from speech in one language to writing in another，thus changing mode and language．”(Gottlieb，1992)

In this section，Interlingual subtitling is mainly discussed．As a rule，subtitles are placed at the bottom of the picture and are either centered or left-aligned．All subtitling work follows rigorous quality guidelines like as follows:

Synchronized: The caption or the subtitle should appear at exactly the same time that audio would be available．

Equivalent: Content should be equivalent to that of the spoken word．

Accessible: Content should be easily available and accessible to those who need it．

Selection: Proper selection of the most appropriate translator is needed for the project．

Subtitling is a highly specialized craft and quite different from standard textual translation．The mission of the subtitling translator is to render speech into a reading format on a visual medium．The audience need to read and understand the flow of the story and match what they hear．It involves an audio-visual medium and literary medium simultaneously．Therefore various constraints exist in such mission．Generally speaking，subtitling are governed by the constraints as follows．

1)Time constraint: It is also called the constraint of reading speed(or duration)．Subtitling is the written translation of the spoken language(source language)of a television program or film into the language of the viewing audience(the target language); the translated text usually appears in one or two lines at the foot of the screen simultaneously with the dialogue or narration in the source language．For printing materials，we can reread the part which we could not understand at first glance or which has been presented before．However，we cannot reread the subtitles which we did not understand，because subtitles disappear nearly immediately after the end of speeches．The appearance and disappearance of each subtitle should coincide roughly with the beginning and end of the corresponding speeches，therefore，a subtitle can be kept on the screen for only several seconds．Therefore，the subtitling translator should take into account of time or reading speed．In order to satisfy this need，the subtitler can modulate the sentence structures，changing from passive and negative sentences to active and affirmative sentences，from long sentences to short ones，and from complex sentences to simple ones．

Cathy: Isabella，don＇t you see what he＇s been doing？He＇s been using you，to be near me，to smile at me behind your back，to try to rouse something in my heart that＇s dead!(from Wuthering Heights)

　凯西:伊莎贝拉，你难道不懂他在玩什么花样吗?他一直在利用你，利用你来接近我，他背着你冲我笑，试图从我心里唤起那种已经熄灭的感情!

Comments In the original speech，we can find there are three infinitive verb phrases and an attributive clause; they are“to be near me” ，“to smile at me behind your back”and “to try to rouse something in my heart that＇s dead” ．If we just follow the original structure，the version will be lengthy and complicated，in the result that the version does not synchronize the sound and images．This will probably influence the viewer＇s understanding and the effects of the film．So the subtitle translator skillfully changes the sentence structure to overcome the time constraint．

2)Spatial constraint: The physical size of the medium，a TV or cinema screen，can only fit a maximum of two lines of text of limited length in each subtitle without impinging unacceptably on the picture on the screen．Considering the viewer＇s reading speed，some subtitle translators suggest that there should be only one line of Chinese subtitle each time，and the number of Chinese characters should be no more that 13 or 14．

Ashley: Well，isn＇t it enough that you gathered every other man＇s heart today？You always had mine．You cut your teeth on it．(from Gone with the Wind)

　阿希礼:今天你取得那么多男人的心，还不够吗?我的心总是你的。

Comments Generally speaking，some redundant words like “you know” ，“get it” ，“well” ，“you see” ，“as I say” ，“I mean” ，“ok” ，“yeah” and the kinds of the like can be omitted in subtitling．So we can find that this subtitle，on the one hand，leaves out the word “well” because of the limits of time and space．On the

other hand，the subtitle translator employs the method of omission to leave out the sentence “You cut your teeth on it” because it has the same meaning as the sentence“You always had mine．” As a result，the space is saved and language is more vivid．

3)Cultural constraint: Subtitling is quite different from standard textual translation in which such methods as footnotes and endnotes can be used to provide explanations of concepts and ideas that don ＇t exist in English．However some other strategies like adaptation and assimilation should be used in subtitling．

Classmate A: You can lead a blonde to water，but you can＇t make her drink．

　同学甲:你得到她的人也不会得到她的心。

Comments The original sentence is an idiom，which means that someone tries to win a pretty girl＇s favor，however the opposite side dose not necessarily accept the chasing．The subtitle translator cannot literally translate the phrases “lead a blonde to water” and“make her drink” ．Therefore，the method of adaptation can be used here to present the implication in Chinese version你得到她的人也不会得到她的心。

Legend tales of legendary warrior whose Kung Fu skills with the stuff of legend．

　He traveled the land in search of worthy foes．(from Kung Fu Panda)

　传说中有个传奇侠客，他的武功出神入化，浪迹江湖，一路行侠仗义。

Then he spoke ，“Enough talk! Let＇s fight!”(from Kung Fu Panda)

　他语出惊人: “少废话!拿命来!”

Comment The two subtitles come from Kung Fu Panda(功夫熊猫)，in which in the first subtitle，there are some phrases like“stuff of legend” and “in search of worthy foes” which cannot be literally translated into东西，寻找and值得一战的敌人．Instead very Chinese phrases like出神入化，行侠仗义are used to convey the Chinese Kung Fu．In the second subtitle，the scene tells that Panda Po is determined to do or die after eating．If the subtitle employs the original verbal meaning，it is neither to fit the situation of the speech nor to reflect Po＇s knight-errant bearing．Therefore the subtitle translator uses the appropriate Chinese phrases少废话，拿命来for Chinese viewers．

Because of the above mentioned constraints，especially time and spatial constraints，the subtitle translator has to take into account of the reading speed and the physical size．Let us compare and analyze the two versions of each subtitle below and understand the principles of conciseness and immediate comprehensibility to translate English-Chinese film and TV subtitles．

He＇s probably not there，but if I don＇t at least look，I＇ll always wonder about it．(from Sleepless in Seattle)

　Normal translation:他也许没来，但至少我应该去看看，否则我会老想着这件事。

　Subtitling:他也许没来，但我不看不死心。

Yes，I would just like to know where I could get this man＇s address．(from Sleepless in Seattle)

　Normal translation:是的，我想知道如何才能得到这个人的地址。

　Subtitling:我想知道他的地址。

And for a while I could not enter，for the way was barred to me．(from Rebecca)

　Normal translation:由于大门深锁，一时间不得其门而入。

　Subtitling:由于大门紧锁，一时无法进入。

Comments When comparing the subtitles and the literal translations，it can be seen that the language used is quite different．While subtitles are less formal in language，the language used in literal version is more formal．This characteristic reflects the way languages can be used—which can be written or oral．Considering scenes where their is a lot of information to be processed by the translator—it is a fact that the language used for subtitling needs to be more compact—it occurs not only because of space limits but also due to time constraints．Subtitles must generally compact all the information in only one line of about 10 Chinese characters each and the time available for display depends mainly on the speed at which the material is spoken．In order to know what information is more relevant，the translator needs to take into account that the film viewers also receive non-verbal information from the images．That imformation can never be disregarded．Thus，speech redundancy can and must be extremely concise if we do not want the audience to spend the whole film only reading subtitles．In addition，subtitling is sometimes designed to give the impression that the actors whom the audience sees are actually speaking in the target language．Therefore，it favours more colloquial language，and tends to be more “natural”and spontaneous．