THE ACCURACY AND READABILITY OF THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH CULTURAL TERMS IN THE INDONESIAN SUBTITLE OF “JUMANJI” MOVIE

  

THE ACCURACY AND READABILITY OF THE TRANSLATION

OF ENGLISH CULTURAL TERMS IN THE INDONESIAN

SUBTITLE OF “JUMANJI” MOVIE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra In English Letters

  By

GRASIA ATIKA SUSANTI

  Student Number: 104214076

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2014

  

THE ACCURACY AND READABILITY OF THE TRANSLATION

OF ENGLISH CULTURAL TERMS IN THE INDONESIAN

SUBTITLE OF “JUMANJI” MOVIE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra In English Letters

  By

GRASIA ATIKA SUSANTI

  Student Number: 104214076

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2014

  Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries, Sometimes it’s afraid Filled with Worries Don't be afraid, when Things Go Wrong, Just be Strong.

  When Thing Seems up in the Air, And everything is so unfair,

  And You Stumble and Fall Just Pick yourself up and Sing

  If One Day You Lose Your Way, Just Remember One Thing, My Friend.

  When you’re Under a Cloud Just Visit Music and Sing

  If One Day You Lose Your Way, Just Remember that I'm here to Stay.

  Don't You Give up, Keep Your Chin up, And Be Happy!

  For My Lord Jesus Christ and My Beloved Parents

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all I would like to thank Jesus Christ for the blessing during the process of this undergraduate thesis writing. I am very grateful to my thesis advisor, Harris Hermansyah Setiajid, S.S., M.Hum for guiding me in every single step of writing this thesis. I also thank my thesis co-advisor, Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. for being a thoughtful reader. I would like to thank my lecturers in English Letters Department who have taught me. I also thank the secretariat staff, Mbak Ninik for helping a lot during this process. I would also like to thank the respondents who were willing to fill the questionnaire. I really appreciate the kindness to spare the time.

  My special thanks go to my beloved parents, who always give me support, love and prayer. I thank my older sisters and younger brother, Mbak Oni, Mbak Adria and Lukas for their support. Many thanks must also be given for my best friends for the support, prayer, laughter, smile, hug and friendship Irma, Christina, Tya, Iche, Nana, Winda, Gita, Kiky, Rita, Dyah, Aulia, Nesya, Ivana, Cicil, Vero, Lilis, Eky, my Class You C 2010 and others that I cannot mention one by one. Lastly, I thank my skripsi group Febri, Diana, Rama, Hans and Albert for the support to keep struggling.

  Grasia Atika Susanti

  TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE

  …………………………………………………………......... ii

  APPROVAL PAGE

  ………………………………………………………… iii

  ACCEPTANCE PAGE

  …………………………………………………….. iv

  LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA

  ILMIAH

  …………………………………………………………………….... v

  STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

  ……………………………………….. vi

  MOTTO PAGE

  ……………………………………………………………... vii

  DEDICATION PAGE

  ……………………………………………………… viii

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ………………………………………………... ix

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  …………………………………………………... x

  ABSTRACT

  …………………………………………………………………. xii

  ABSTRAK

  …………………………………………………………………... xiii

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

  ………………………………………….. 1 A. Background of the Study …………………………………………….. 1 B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………….... 4 C. Objectives of the Study ………………………………………………. 4 D. Definition of Terms …………………………………………………... 5

  CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW

  ………………………………. 6 A. Review of Related Studies …………………………………………… 6 B. Review of Related Theories ………………………………………….. 7 C. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………………. 24

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

  ……………………………………….. 26 A. Area of Research ……………………………………………………... 26 B. Object of the Study ………………………………………………….. 26 C. Method of the Study …………………………………………………. 27 D. Research Procedure …………………………………………………... 27

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS

  …………… 34 A. Translation Accuracy ………………………………………………… 34 B. Translation Readability ………………………………………………. 51 C. Translation Strategies and Its Relation to the Accuracy and Readability

  ……………………………………… 65

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION

  APPENDICES

  ……………………………………………………………….. 83

  Appendix 1: Data of the Research in Jumanji

  …………………………………………………………… 81

  Appendix 2:

  Accuracy’s Questionnaire …………………………………. 90

  Appendix 3:

  Readability’s Questionnaire ……………………………….. 91

  Appendix 4: The Result of Accuracy, Readability and Translation Strategies

  Applied …………………………………………………….. 92

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  …………………………………………….. 79

  …………………………… 83

  ABSTRACT

  SUSANTI, GRASIA ATIKA. THE ACCURACY AND READABILITY OF

  

THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH CULTURAL TERMS IN THE

  

INDONESIAN SUBTITLE OF “JUMANJI” MOVIE. Yogyakarta:

  Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2014. This undergraduate thesis discusses the accuracy, readability and translation strategies applied of English cultural terms in Jumanji subtitle. The difficulty of cultural terms in translation in subtitle is how to make cultural terms in the source language be accepted in target language. The message can be accurately conveyed into target language and can be understood by the readers without revealing by the ambiguous meaning in the message. There are three problems analyzed in this thesis. The first is how accurate the English cultural terms in the Jumanji movie are translated into Indonesian subtitle. Second is how the readability of the translation English cultural terms is. The third is how the strategies are applied when translating English cultural terms into Indonesian subtitle. The field research surveys the readability of the Indonesian subtitles. This research involves 20 respondents. Three respondents are obtained from language expert, literature expert and professional translation. Ten respondents are from adults and seven respondents are from teenagers. The research results show that based on accuracy and readability rating instrument prepared by Nababan (2004: 61), the translation score of Jumanji is quite accurate (1.7) and readable (1.4). From 32 translation items, the mostly used translation strategy is descriptive equivalent (15). The application of the descriptive equivalent strategy helps the translator clarify the meaning behind idiomatic expressions.

  ABSTRAK

  SUSANTI, GRASIA ATIKA. THE ACCURACY AND READABILITY OF

  

THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH CULTURAL TERMS IN THE

  

INDONESIAN SUBTITLE OF “JUMANJI” MOVIE. Yogyakarta: Program

Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2014.

  Skripsi ini membahas tentang keakuratan, keterbacaan dan strategi penterjemahan yang digunakan dalam istilah-istilah budaya pada teks terjemahaan film Jumanji. Kesulitan yang dihadapi dalam menerjemahkan teks terjemahaan adalah bagaimana istilah budaya dari bahasa sumber dapat diterima oleh bahasa sasaran. Pesan harus tersampaikan secara akurat kedalam bahasa sasaran dan dapat dipahami oleh pembaca tanpa menciptakan makna ganda dalam pesan.

  Ada tiga masalah yang dianalisa pada skripsi ini. Masalah pertama adalah seberapa akurat istilah-istilah budaya pada teks terjemahaan film Jumanji. Masalah kedua mengenai seberapa terbaca teks terjemahan mengenai istilah- istilah budaya. Masalah ketiga mengenai bagaimana strategi yang diterapkan pada saat menerjemahkan istilah-istilah budaya bahasa Inggris kedalam teks terjemahan bahasa Indonesia.

  Studi lapangan dilakukan untuk meninjau keterbacaan teks terjemahan bahasa Indonesia. Penelitian ini melibatkan 20 responden. 3 responden ditujukan untuk ahli bahasa, ahli sastra dan ahli penerjemah. 10 responden ditujukan untuk dewasa dan 7 responden untuk remaja.

  Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa berdasarkan indikator keakuratan dan keterbacaan dari Nababan (2004: 61), teks terjemahan film Jumanji adalah cukup akurat (1.7) dan mudah dibaca (1.4). Dari 32 data terjemahan, strategi penerjemahan yang paling sering digunakan adalah padanan deskriptif (15). Penggunaan padanan deskriptif membantu penerjemah untuk menjelaskan makna dari idiom-idiom bahasa sumber.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Nowadays there are many fantasy movies, such as Jumanji, Zathura, Spy Kids, Avatar, Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings that are shown in Indonesia. Teenagers and adults like to watch fantasy movies but sometimes they

  do not understand with the language. Therefore a subtitle should be given in the movie. Zoebazary in the Kamus Istilah Televisi dan Film mentions that subtitle is some texts which appear under screen. They usually consist two lines. The subtitle function is as text at giving direct translation from the source language into the target language (2010:247). Through the subtitle teenagers and adults understand what the movie talks about.

  However, there are problems that appear in the movie subtitle. Larson states that the cultural problem in translation appears due to the differences between the source language (SL) and the target language (TL). There are always some source language concepts that have no lexical equivalence in the target language because of differences in geography, customs, belief, worldviews and various other factors (1984:163). The different culture terms make the source language not accurate to be translated into target language. An idiomatic expression, organization or institution, food or beverage, activities and equipment are part of cultural terms. It is frequently found that some words, phrases, and sentences of cultural terms in the source language are not translated accurately into target language. As a result, the cultural terms cannot be easily understood by viewer.

  For example, the word “chandelier” presents the different material culture in Indonesia and English. In English, it can be described as a large round frame for holding candles or lights that hangs from ceiling. In Indonesia, the “chandelier” is recognized as “lampu”, or in English it is called “lamp”. In order to make the meaning close to the source language, the word “lampu” becomes “lampu gantung” which means a lamp that hangs on the ceiling. Accordingly, the closest meaning of the word “chandelier” in the source language is “lampu gantung”. It makes “lampu gantung” is quite accurate with the material culture of source language. Therefore, the idea of a translator is supposed to find the closest meaning of cultural terms of the source language item. Another example of an appropriate translation is shown below:

  SL/10/75:15.59/ What, are you crying? You don‟t cry, all right? You keep your chin up

  TL/10/75:14.46/ Apa, kau menangis? Kau tidak boleh menangis, kau angkat dagu anda The translation above shows that the subtitle is not accurate. The translator translation, you keep your chin up is an idiom. Newmark states that an idiom cannot be elicited from the separate meanings of each word of which they are formed (1981: 125). In this case, the word chin cannot translate literally but chin as a part of an idiom. If the word chin is translated literally, the meaning becomes a part of face located below the mouth. The meaning of you keep your chin up itself is used to tell someone to make an effort to stay brave and confident when someone in a difficult situation. According to Idiomatic Expressions Dictionary (Simon, 1989), this idiom will be accurate if it is translated into kau harus tetap teguh .

  One of the difficulties of cultural terms in translation in subtitle is how to make cultural terms in the source language accepted in the target language. The message is supposed to be accurately conveyed into target language and understood by the readers without evoking ambiguous meaning in the message.

  The subtitle in the Jumanji movie is chosen as the object of this study. The analysis focuses on the translation of cultural terms that are gained as the data from the movie subtitle. It can arise some questions, is the translation accurate with the target language? Can the translation be read by viewers? The accuracy, readability and translation strategies are important aspects because in the fact that the messages or meaning of cultural terms can be understood or not in the target language.

B. Problem Formulation There are three problems to discus in this research.

  1. How accurate are the English cultural terms in the Jumanji movie translated into Indonesian subtitle?

2. How is the readability of the translation of the English cultural terms? 3.

  How are the translation strategies applied in translating the English cultural terms into Indonesian?

C. Objectives of the Study

  This paper aims to analyze the accuracy, readability and translation strategies applied of English cultural terms into Indonesian in Jumanji movie. Based on the problems of formulations, there are three objectives of the study. First objective is to find out how are accurate English cultural terms translated into Indonesian subtitle. Second objective is to measure whether English cultural terms translated in Indonesian subtitle is easy to read and understood by the viewers. Third objective is to find out how the translation strategies applied in translated into Indonesian subtitle in terms of cultural.

D. Definition of Terms

  Accuracy can only be rightly determined by judging the extent to which

  the response of the receptor is substantially equivalent to the response of the original receptors (Nida, 1974: 28).

  Readability is how easily written materials can be read and understood.

  (Richards, 1985: 238).

  Translation strategy is a tactic of translator for translating words, phrases, or a sentence (Suryawinata, 2003: 67).

  Culture is a complex of beliefs, attitudes, values and rules which a group

  of people share. Each society will interpret a message in terms of its own culture (Larson, 1984: 431).

  Subtitle, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines „subtitle‟ as

  words that translate what is said in a film/movie into a different language and appear on the screen at the bottom (2000: 1298).

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter elaborates the theoretical review used in this research. It

  presents review of related studies, review of related theories and theoretical framework of this research.

A. Review of Related Studies

  An undergraduate thesis written by R ianantang, entitled “Classification of translation strategies of pure idioms in the translation of Pramoedya‟s Rumah

  Kaca into House of Glass by Max Lane

  ” analyzes what the translation strategies for pure idioms are applied in the translation Pramoedya‟s Rumah Kaca into

  

House of Glass . He explains about the translation of an idiom, there are three

  strategies, using an idiom of similar meaning and form, using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form and translation by paraphrase.

  Another study is written by Evi Susanti. In her study entitled “Translation accuracy based on the translation strategies in translating names and terms related to plant in Andrea Hirata‟s Laskar Pelangi into The Rainbow Troops” focuses on how accurate the translation of the terms is related to the novel based on translation strategies.

  Another study in relation to this research is an undergraduate thesis of Indah, entitled “The Study on Cultural Untranslatability: the Accuracy, the Acceptability, and the Translation Strategies in Translating the Joy Luck Club into Perkumpulan Kebahagiaan dan Keberuntungan

  ”. She explains about the readers‟ cultural background which affects the acceptability of Chinese expression.

  From the studies above, the difference between this research is in the material and focus to analyze. Rianantangs ‟ study focuses on idiom and the data are from the novel. This research focuses on cultural terms and the data taken from movie subtitle. Susanti and Indah study, focus on accuracy on the translation strategies and the data taken from novel. It is almost the same with this research but this research is adding another material to analyze, this research does not only analyze the accuracy and translation strategies but also analyzes the readability of the subtitle.

B. Review of Related Theories

  1. Theories of Translation According Nida and Teber, translation is concerned in the closest natural equivalent meaning of the Source Language message, rather than the style (1974:

  13). Larson also states that

  Translation is basically a change of form when we speak of the form of a language, we are referring to the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, etc, which are spoken or writing…in translation the form of the Source Language is replaced by the form of the receptor Target Language (1984: 64).

  The two theories above about the definition of translation become stronger when Newmark‟s explanation is related to them. He defines translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language (1981: 7)

  It is concluded that the important thing in translation is transferring message from the source language into target language. Newmark states that the translator has a message to convey, and a message always can be conveyed (1981: 68). In the way to convey the message, the translator must be able to avoid misunderstanding in translation. Newmark also states that ambiguity may enrich a text as both meanings may be intended, and the translator should attempt to reproduce the ambiguity (1981: 122).

  2. Translation Strategies In the process of translation, the exact meaning of sentences, idioms and phrases must be discovered. This process is regarded as the problems of translation. Thus the translator should pay attention with his/her translation strategy which can help the translator to translate the language into another language. Translation strategy as a tactic of translator for translating words, phrases, or a sentence (Suryawinata and Hariyanto, 2003: 67). There are two strategies, first structural strategies and second semantics strategies.

  a. Structural Strategies The structural strategies are categorized into three; there are addition, subtraction and transposition. i. Addition

  This strategy uses to add the words in the source language structure because the source language needs to add some words. For example: SL: Saya guru, TL: I am a teacher.

  The word “am” and “a” must be added to make the structure in target language can be accepted. ii. Subtraction Subtraction means there is omitting structural element in the target language.

  For example: SL: You should go home.

  TL: kamu mesti pulang. SL: Her husband is an engineer.

  The structural element in ve rb “go” and “is an” are omitted from target language. iii. Transposition

  In this strategy, the translator changes the source language structure in the target language sentences to get same meaning. The changes of the structure can be from plural into singular, adjective phrase, or the whole sentences. For example:

  SL: Musical instruments can be divided into two basic groups. TL: Alat musik bisa dibagi menjadi dua kelompok dasar. From the example, plural word in the source language changes into singular in the target language. “Instruments” (plural) traslated into “alat” (singular).

  Similarly with the word “groups” translated into “kelompok”.

  b. Semantics Strategies Semantics strategies are translation strategies related with the meaning. These strategies are focused in the words, phrases, clauses and sentences. Semantics strategies are divided into nine strategies. There are borrowing, cultural equivalent, descriptive equivalent, synonym, official translation, loss and gain, additional, omission, and modulation. i. Borrowing Borrowing is a strategy on translation that borrows the word from source language to translate in target language. In this strategy, there are transliteration and naturalization. Transliteration means the strategy uses the same word, phonetic and spelling from source language. Naturalization is the words from source language are adapted with the structure in the target language. For example:

  Source Language Transliteration Naturalization mall mall mal sandal sandal sandal orangutan orangutan orangutan ii. Cultural Equivalent

  The translator uses cultural background from source language to translate in the target language. This strategy can be misunderstanding to translate because the lack of the translator‟s knowledge. This strategy can help the translator to make less misunderstanding the meaning. For examples, “Jaksa Agung” translated into “Attorney General” in English (not Great Attorney). The word “Sonovabitch” translated into “Si Brengsek”, not “anak anjing” iii. Descriptive Equivalent

  This strategy is describe the meaning and function from source language. This strategy uses because the word from source language has special culture. For aristocracy” it should be “Japanese aristocracy from the eleventh to nineteenth century”. The function is “officers administrators” (Suryawinata and Hariyanto, 2003: 73). iv. Synonym

  The translator translates the target language uses the meaning of the word almost similar with the source language. For examples: SL: What a cute baby you‟ve got! TL: Alangkah lucunya bayi Anda! The word “cute” translated into “lucu”. “Cute” and “lucu” are synonym.

  “Cute” is an attractive child and “lucu” is a child who is attracting people to get their attention.

  “lucu” and “cute” have similar meaning as an attractive child to get someone attention. v. Official Translation

  This strategy is used to formal translation. When translator translates a text from another language into Indonesian and uses this strategy, the translator needs to have a manual book “Pedoman Pengindonesiaan Nama dan Kata Asing” publised by Pusat Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Depdikbud R.I. For example, “read-only memory” translated on the book into “memory simpan tetap”. vi. Loss and Gain Once the principle is accepted that sameness cannot exist between two languages, it becomes possible to approach the question of loss and gain in the translation process. The example off loss, “automobile” translated into “mobil”. In this translation

  , the element word “auto” is omitted. So, the word “automobile” loss the meaning. Gain is contradictory with loss. For example, the w ord “whale” translated into “ikan paus”. The element “ikan” needs to add because if the result of the translation just “paus”, it cannot give good translation. In the Indonesian language “Paus” means the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, in English “Pope”. vii. Omission or Deletion

  Omission means the words or sentences from source language can be omitt to translate into target language. It means that some words are not translated. For example: SL: “sama dengan raden ayu ibunya,” Katanya lirih.

  TL: “just like her mother,” she whispered

  The word “raden ayu” from source language is not translated into target language. viii. Modulation Modulation is a translation strategy to translate phrase, clause, or sentences.

  The translator sees the message from source language with different point of view. For examples: SL: I broke my leg. TL: Kakiku patah. The translator views this sentence meaning from the object that is “kaki”, not from subject “saya”. ix. Addition

  Addition means the translator gives some information in the result of target language. Usually the translator adds the information in the text, at the end of the text or the bottom of the text (footnote). For example:

  SL: The skin, which is hard and scaly, is greyish in color, thus helping to camouflage it from predators when underwater.

  TL: Kulitnya, yang keras dan bersisik, berwarna abu-abu. Dengan demikian, kulit ini membantunya berkamuflase, menyesuaikan diri dengan keadaan lingkungan untuk menyelamatkan diri dari predator, hewan pemangsa, jika berada di dalam air (Suryawinata and Hariyanto, 2003: 75).

  3. Translation Accuracy As stated by Nida and Taber in The Theory and Practice of Translation, accuracy can only be rightly determined by judging the extent to which the response of the receptor is substantially equivalent to the response of the original receptor (1974: 28).

  In other words, a product of translation can be called as accurate if the translator gives equivalent meaning for the target language and does not give error of exegesis.

  To know whether the source language translated accurately into target language, another perspective about the accuracy comes from Nababan (2004: 61). He uses rating instrument to measure the target text‟s accuracy. This rating instrument is to know the accuracy score of translation from Source Text into Target Text. This is the table of Nababan‟s accuracy-rating instrument with modification

  Table 1. Nab aban‟s accuracy-rating instrument with modification

  Score Translation Criterion Explanation

  1 Accurate The message is accurately conveyed into target language, appropriate with the content.

  2 Quite Accurate The message is less accurately conveyed into target language, indicated by literal translation.

  3 Not Accurate The message is not accurately conveyed into target language.

  The accuracy score can be calculated through the questionnaire which the researcher gives to the respondents. This is some classification to identify the average score from Nababan with modification.

  Table 2. Accuracy scoring

  Score Translation criterion

  1 Accurate

• – 1.6

  1.7 Quite Accurate

• – 2.3

  2.4 Not Accurate

• – 3 The score 1
• – 1.6 indicates that the translation is accurately conveyed, the score
• – 2.3 means that the target language is quite accurate and the score 2.4 – 3 indicates that the translation is not accurate.

  4. Translation Readability Richard states that readability is how easily written materials can be read and understood (1985: 238). He also argues that readability depends on many factors, including the average length of sentences in a passage, the number of new words a passage contains, and the grammatical complexity of language used. Sakri said that length of average in the sentence shows the sum of average in the sentences in a text (1993: 137). To measure the target language can be read and understood, Nababan states readability rating instrument. This rating instrument is to find the readable score of translation in the Target Language (2004: 61).

  Table 3. Nababan‟s readability-rating instrument with modification

  Score Translation Criterion Explanation

  1 Readable Text is easy to read and can be understood by the reader.

  2 Quite Readable Text is not easy to be understood, indicated by ambiguous meaning.

  3 Not Readable Text cannot be understood.

  This is the average score to measure the readability score from Nababan with modification.

  Table 4. Readability scoring

  Score Translation criterion

  1 Readable

• – 1.6

  1.7 Quite Readable

• – 2.3

  2.4 Not Readable

• – 3 This score comes from the sum of the score in each data divided the sum of the respondents. If the target language is readable to read, the score is 1
• – 1.6, the score
• – 2.3 means that the target language is quite readable and the score 2.4 – 3 means that the target language is not readable.

  4. Subtitling Standards In the jurnal Fotios Karamitroglou entitle

  “A Proposed Set of Subtitling Standards in Europe

  ” (1997), he stated that subtitling has standards that has to followed. There are spatial parameter or layout and punctuation and letter case. Spatial parameter/layout covers position on the screen, number of lines, text position, number of characters per line, typeface and distribution, font colour and background.

  In the punctuation and letter case covers “sequence dots” (or “ending triple dots”) {…}, “linking dots” (or “strating triple dots”) {…}, full stops {.}, dashes and hyphens {-}, question marks {?} and exclamation points {!}, parentheses {( )} and brackets {[ ]}, single quotation marks {“}, double quotation marks {“ “}, commas {,}, colons {:} and semicolons {;}, ital ics, quotation marks {“”} embracing text in italics, upper and lower case letters, and the last boldface and underline.

  a.

  Spatial parameter/layout

  Position on the screen: A subtitle should be positioned at the lower part of

  the screen, so that they cover an area usually occupied by image action which is of lesser importance to the general aesthetic appreciation of the target film.

  Subtitle could be positioned toward the upper part of the screen only in extreme cases where visual material (linguistics or other) of vital importance to appreciation and the comprehension of the target film is exposed at the pre- determined part of the screen where subtitles would otherwise be inserted.

  Number of lines: A maximum of two lines of subtitles should be presented at

  a time. In the case of a single-line subtitle, this should occupy the lower of the two lines, rather than the top line in order to minimize interference with the background image action.

  Text position: The subtitled text should be presented centered on its allocated

  line(s). Since most of the image action circulates around the center of the screen, this would enable the eye of the viewer to travel a shorter distance in order to reach the start of the subtitle.

  Number of characters per line: Each subtitle line should allow around 35

  characters in order to be able to accommodate a satisfactory portion of the (translated) spoken text and minimize the need for original text reduction and omissions. An increase in the number of characters, attempting to fit over 40 per subtitle line, reduces the legibility of the subtitles because the front size is also inevitably reduce.

  Typeface and distribution: Typeface with no serifs, since the visual

  complexity added to the letter results in a decrease in the legibility of the subtitled text. Typefaces like Helvetica and Arial are qualified.

  Font colour and background: Typeface characters should be coloured pale

  white (not “snow-bright” white) because a too flashy pigment would render them tiring to the viewers‟ eye. They should also be presented against a grey, see- through “ghost box” rather than in a contoured format (surrounded by a shadowed edge) since it has been proven that it easier for the eye to read against a fixed rather than a varying/moving background. In addition, the colour of the “ghost box” (grey) is both neutral to the eye and gives the impression that it does not entirely block the background image.

  b.

  Punctuation and letter case

  “Sequence dots” (or ending triple dots”): Three dots should be used right

  after the last character of a subtitle (no space character inserted), when the subtitled sentence is not finished on one subtitle and has to continue over the consecutive subtitle. The three "sequence dots" indicate that the subtitled sentence is incomplete, so that the eye and the brain of the viewers can expect the appearance of a new flash to follow.

  “Linking dots” (or “starting triple dots”) {...}: Three dots should be used

  right before the first character of a subtitle (no space character inserted, the first character non-capitalised), when this subtitle carries the follow-up text of the previous uncompleted sentence. The tracing of the three “linking dots” signals the arrival of the expected new flash of subtitle, something anticipated because of the presence of “sequence dots” in the previous subtitle.

  Full stops {.}: The full stop, or period, should be used right after the last

  character of a subtitle (no space character inserted) to indicate the end of the subtitled sentence. This signals to the eye that it can go back to the image since there is no consecutive subtitle to anticipate.

  Dashes and hyphens {-}: Dashes are used before the first character of each of

  the lines of a two-line subtitle (with a space character inserted each time) to indicate the exchange of speakers‟ utterances, namely a dialogue, presented either in a single flash as “static double text,” or with the second speaker‟s exchange as an “overlay” to the first subtitle line, i.e. as “dynamic double text.” When dashes are used to link words as hyphens no space characters should be inserted between the linked words

  Question marks {?} and exclamation points {!}: Question marks and

  exclamation points should be used to indicate a question or emphasis respectively, just like in printed materials, positioned right after the last character of a subtitle (no space character inserted).

  Parentheses {( )} and brackets {[ ]}: Parentheses and brackets should be

  used to embrace comments which are explanatory to the preceding phrase. As the duration time for each subtitle is considerably limited and the convention of parentheses or brackets is not extremely widespread in printed materials either, they function as wild cards and, therefore, they should be used cautiously.

  Single quotation marks {„ ‟}: Single quotation marks should be used just like

  in printed materials, in order to embrace alleged information. For reasons similar to the use of parentheses and brackets, single quotation marks should be used cautiously.

  Double quotation marks {“ ”} : Double quotation should be used just like in printed materials, in order to embrace quoted information.

  Commas {,}, colons {:} and semicolons {;}: Commas, colons and semicolons

  should be used just like in printed materials, in order to suggest a short pause in the reading pace.

  Italics: Italics on the subtitled text should be used to indicate an off-screen

  source of the spoken text, (e.g. when there is a voice of someone contemplating something, speaking over the phone from the other end, or narrating something). They should also be used when retaining foreign- language words in their original foreign- language version (e.g. “He‟s got a certain je ne sais quoi.”).

  Quotation marks {“”} embracing text in italics: Quotation marks embracing text in italics should be used to indicate a public broadcast, i.e.

  spoken text coming from an off-screen source and addressed to a number of people (e.g. through a TV, a radio, or a loudspeaker). They should also be used when transferring song lyrics.

  Upper- and lower-case letters: Upper- and lower-case letters should be used

  Subtitles typed only in upper-case letters should be used when transferring a display or a caption (i.e. a written sign that appears on the screen).

  Boldface and underline: Boldface and underline typing conventions are not permitted in subtitling.

  The theory above says that sequences dots are usually at the end of each line and are used to indicate that the sentence has not finished yet. Linking dots help the reader to get the message that the subtitle is a sentence continuing the previous sentence. Full stop indicates that it is the end of subtitled sentence.

  Dashes are used to indicate that there is a change of speakers. The dashes are inserted at the beginning of the line before the first character. Hyphens are used to link one word with another and inserted between words. Question marks indicate that there is a question that is typed before a question mark, and there is a command that uses an exclamation mark at the end of the subtitle.

  Parentheses and brackets are said to be used for explanations that are needed but they are to be used cautiously so that the viewers are not spending a lot of time reading the explanations and are behind with the subtitle. Commas, colons and semicolons are indicated a pause when reading the subtitle. Italics make the viewers easy to identify that the word(s) italics are of another language or the source language of the film. Quotation marks are to indicate that the spoken text is coming from off-screen source and not from the speaker in that image.

  The upper-case letters are used when there is a sign on the top, and the letters appear below it. The lower-case appears at the bottom of the screen below a sign that appears at the bottom of the screen. Boldface and underline are not permitted to be used in subtitling. They do not belong to the standards.