Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitles

<p dir="ltr">This study adopts a corpus-assisted approach to explore the translation strategies that Netflix subtitlers opted for in rendering 1564 English swear words into Arabic. It uses a 699,229-word English-Arabic parallel corpus consisting of the English transcriptions of forty...

وصف كامل

محفوظ في:
التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
المؤلف الرئيسي: Hussein Abu-Rayyash (17900036) (author)
مؤلفون آخرون: Ahmad S. Haider (17900039) (author), Amer Al-Adwan (17316982) (author)
منشور في: 2023
الموضوعات:
الوسوم: إضافة وسم
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author Hussein Abu-Rayyash (17900036)
author2 Ahmad S. Haider (17900039)
Amer Al-Adwan (17316982)
author2_role author
author
author_facet Hussein Abu-Rayyash (17900036)
Ahmad S. Haider (17900039)
Amer Al-Adwan (17316982)
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Hussein Abu-Rayyash (17900036)
Ahmad S. Haider (17900039)
Amer Al-Adwan (17316982)
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023-01-30T03:00:00Z
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 10.1057/s41599-023-01506-3
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Strategies_of_translating_swear_words_into_Arabic_a_case_study_of_a_parallel_corpus_of_Netflix_English-Arabic_movie_subtitles/25139708
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv CC BY 4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Information and computing sciences
Artificial intelligence
Computer vision and multimedia computation
Language, communication and culture
Language studies
Linguistics
Audiovisual translation (AVT)
Multimedia translation
Transfer of verbal and non-verbal aspects
Multi-semiotic translation
Subtitling
Dubbing
Intralingual subtitles
Interlingual subtitles
Bilingual subtitles
Corpus linguistics
Corpus-assisted translation studies
Translation strategies
Swear words
Taboo language
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)
Arabic vernaculars
Politeness in language
Denotative meaning
Connotative meaning
Language and culture
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitles
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Text
Journal contribution
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
text
contribution to journal
description <p dir="ltr">This study adopts a corpus-assisted approach to explore the translation strategies that Netflix subtitlers opted for in rendering 1564 English swear words into Arabic. It uses a 699,229-word English-Arabic parallel corpus consisting of the English transcriptions of forty English movies, drama, action, science fiction (sci-fi), and biography and their Arabic subtitles. Using the wordlist tool in SketchEngine, the researchers identified some frequent swear words, namelyfuck, shit, damn, ass, bitch, bastard, asshole, dick, cunt, andpussy. Moreover, using the parallel concordance tool in SketchEngine revealed that three translation strategies were observed in the corpus, namely, omission, softening, and swear-to-non-swear. The omission strategy accounted for the lion’s share in the investigated data, with 66% for drama, 61% for action, 52% for biography, and 40% for sci-fi. On the other hand, the swear-to-non-swear strategy was the least adopted one, accounting for 21% in sci-fi, 16% in biography, 14% in drama, and 11% in action. In addition, the softening strategy got the second-highest frequency across the different movie genres, with 39% for sci-fi, 32% for biography, 28% for action, and 20% for drama. Since swear words have connotative functions, omitting or euphemizing them could cause a slight change in the representation of meaning and characters. The study recommends more corpus-assisted studies on different AVT modes, including dubbing, voiceover, and free commentaries.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01506-3" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01506-3</a></p>
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network_acronym_str Manara2
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oai_identifier_str oai:figshare.com:article/25139708
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spelling Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitlesHussein Abu-Rayyash (17900036)Ahmad S. Haider (17900039)Amer Al-Adwan (17316982)Information and computing sciencesArtificial intelligenceComputer vision and multimedia computationLanguage, communication and cultureLanguage studiesLinguisticsAudiovisual translation (AVT)Multimedia translationTransfer of verbal and non-verbal aspectsMulti-semiotic translationSubtitlingDubbingIntralingual subtitlesInterlingual subtitlesBilingual subtitlesCorpus linguisticsCorpus-assisted translation studiesTranslation strategiesSwear wordsTaboo languageModern Standard Arabic (MSA)Arabic vernacularsPoliteness in languageDenotative meaningConnotative meaningLanguage and culture<p dir="ltr">This study adopts a corpus-assisted approach to explore the translation strategies that Netflix subtitlers opted for in rendering 1564 English swear words into Arabic. It uses a 699,229-word English-Arabic parallel corpus consisting of the English transcriptions of forty English movies, drama, action, science fiction (sci-fi), and biography and their Arabic subtitles. Using the wordlist tool in SketchEngine, the researchers identified some frequent swear words, namelyfuck, shit, damn, ass, bitch, bastard, asshole, dick, cunt, andpussy. Moreover, using the parallel concordance tool in SketchEngine revealed that three translation strategies were observed in the corpus, namely, omission, softening, and swear-to-non-swear. The omission strategy accounted for the lion’s share in the investigated data, with 66% for drama, 61% for action, 52% for biography, and 40% for sci-fi. On the other hand, the swear-to-non-swear strategy was the least adopted one, accounting for 21% in sci-fi, 16% in biography, 14% in drama, and 11% in action. In addition, the softening strategy got the second-highest frequency across the different movie genres, with 39% for sci-fi, 32% for biography, 28% for action, and 20% for drama. Since swear words have connotative functions, omitting or euphemizing them could cause a slight change in the representation of meaning and characters. The study recommends more corpus-assisted studies on different AVT modes, including dubbing, voiceover, and free commentaries.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01506-3" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01506-3</a></p>2023-01-30T03:00:00ZTextJournal contributioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontextcontribution to journal10.1057/s41599-023-01506-3https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Strategies_of_translating_swear_words_into_Arabic_a_case_study_of_a_parallel_corpus_of_Netflix_English-Arabic_movie_subtitles/25139708CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/251397082023-01-30T03:00:00Z
spellingShingle Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitles
Hussein Abu-Rayyash (17900036)
Information and computing sciences
Artificial intelligence
Computer vision and multimedia computation
Language, communication and culture
Language studies
Linguistics
Audiovisual translation (AVT)
Multimedia translation
Transfer of verbal and non-verbal aspects
Multi-semiotic translation
Subtitling
Dubbing
Intralingual subtitles
Interlingual subtitles
Bilingual subtitles
Corpus linguistics
Corpus-assisted translation studies
Translation strategies
Swear words
Taboo language
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)
Arabic vernaculars
Politeness in language
Denotative meaning
Connotative meaning
Language and culture
status_str publishedVersion
title Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitles
title_full Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitles
title_fullStr Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitles
title_full_unstemmed Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitles
title_short Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitles
title_sort Strategies of translating swear words into Arabic: a case study of a parallel corpus of Netflix English-Arabic movie subtitles
topic Information and computing sciences
Artificial intelligence
Computer vision and multimedia computation
Language, communication and culture
Language studies
Linguistics
Audiovisual translation (AVT)
Multimedia translation
Transfer of verbal and non-verbal aspects
Multi-semiotic translation
Subtitling
Dubbing
Intralingual subtitles
Interlingual subtitles
Bilingual subtitles
Corpus linguistics
Corpus-assisted translation studies
Translation strategies
Swear words
Taboo language
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)
Arabic vernaculars
Politeness in language
Denotative meaning
Connotative meaning
Language and culture