The use of Cantonese in subtitling Recent years, using Cantonese in subtitling or not have been debated by translators and studies. In my view, it is good to use Cantonese subtitling, in this paper I will discuss it in details through the film: Ice Age 4 Continental Drift (2012). Ice Age 4 is an animation comedy about the main characters (Manny, Diego, and Sid) beginning another adventure after their continent is set adrift. Using an iceberg as a raft, they battle sea creatures and pirates as they explore the new world. Firstly, unlike any other film genres, the emphasis of comedy is on humor. So, subtitle in comedy does not only help the audience understand the context, it also makes them laugh, if we use standardized …show more content…
For example at 1:08:56 “Don’t be a scaredy cat." , it is better to translated as “唔使嚇到騰哂雞。” in Cantonese, instead of directly translated as “別嚇得跟小貓咪似的。”. As in Hong Kong culture we normally use “騰哂雞” to express the meaning of scare, instead of “小貓咪”. Besides, at 0:21:40 “I slept through the comet that killed the unicorns.”, if we just directly translated it as “掃帚星殺死獨角獸時我也是睡著了。”, it just seems very awkward to Hong Kong audience and they would not be able to get the real meaning of the dialogue, so it is better to translated it in Cantonese as “話知個天塌落黎我都照訓。”. In translating the script we need to consider the target audience cultural knowledge and needs, if they do not have that kind of cultural background, it is very difficult for them to get through the cultural boundaries and get the punchlines, just like the example about, those idioms are commonly used in English speaking countries, but most of the Hong Kong audience, especially children, are unable to get the meaning, and culture bumps occur for these kinds of less well-known idioms for Hong Kong audience. That why it is better to use Cantonese in subtitling, in order to break through the culture boundaries.
Finally, the translators should be aware of the use of similar meaning of words when translating. For example, at 0:08:15 “But we always missed you.”, it is translated into “我們一直都懷念你。” in standardized Chinese. The word “懷念” may mislead audience that the character has already passed away. The translation in Cantonese is “我哋一直都好掛住你。”, the word “掛住” let the audience realise that the character is just leave his family, but does not die yet. In standardized Chinese “懷念” included the meaning of “掛住”, but in the language context of Hong Kong, it may mislead Hong Kong
This would make the reader think that she does not know the language very well. She had to use the vocabulary she did know so she asked, “Do you know why the neighbors are very sad?” (Schmitt, 107). The cleaning lady responded in a “baby Chinese way of telling me he died” (Schmitt, 107). The cleaning lady seemed to pick up on that she did not know Chinese very well, so it seems reasonable for her to respond in “baby Chinese” (Schmitt, 107). However, it is interesting that she knew that the cleaning lady spoke back in “baby Chinese” rather than speaking in proper or more complex Chinese (Schmitt, 107). The cleaning lady may have also responded in that way since she knows that she is a foreigner. Normally speaking foreigners would know basic or little of a foreign language in a country they are visiting or staying
Climate Change has become an incredibly controversial topic because of the bid to win votes. As with any successful political party, capital and supporters are needed to fund and support campaigns and activities to secure votes. The Democratic and Republican parties have taken opposite sides of the ring regardless of scientific proof. In relation to global warming, the Democrats represent the environmentalists in the green corner and the Republicans represent the current energy tycoons in the red corner. The two opposing parties are simply trying to one up each other with each rhetorical combination thrown. The more irrational or misconstrued the rhetoric, the more the crowd rooting for each fighter reacts and the more independents rally to
In the book, the Woo's left for America to build a better life for themselves. Suyuan Woo wanted to have a daughter like herself, and no one would look down on her. It was important that she speak perfect English and hopefully not share in the same tragedies and sorrows she had known.
The statement in question for this assignment puts forth various assertions: that the Little Ice Age cooled the climate worldwide, that it wasn’t the coldest period since the last ice age, and that because the earth is in a natural time of warming from this period, human-made greenhouse gasses are not plausible as a source of global warming. Some of these statements are true, but there are also fallacies within these assertions.
This summer I read American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. After seeing that the graphic novel was a comic book, I was very excited to read it. I relished how the author decided to tell this story in an unique format. Having pictures really helped myself visualize the story in my mind. The way Gene Luen Yang used language in his story was extremely interesting. Each character spoke slightly different than others based on where their background. In the beginning of the novel, when Wei-Chen Sun he first meets Jing Jang he greets him in a more proper way. “ ‘Sorry to bother you, but you're chinese aren't you?’ ”said Wei-Chen Sun.
By juxtaposing both the English and Mandarin language, Wong is effectively showcasing and questioning the institutional dominance the English language may possesses over both worldwide linguistics as well as individual’s freedom of expression; Stating we may need to break free from the constraining borders English may pose on an individual, and instead write or speak in any way we wish in hopes of effectively getting our point across. The narrator wants herself and others to break free from the strict dominant borders, empowering others to live a life filled with full freedom of expression regardless of one’s style of writing or minority
Some English words do not have corresponding words in most foreign languages so there are issues with exact translation. It may take more words to present the same message in a different language.
The setting of the story creates a better grasp on the intelligence of each character. The narrator of the story goes from her belief that there is no way she is Chinese to understanding her heritage and that she is really Chinese. The narrator states that she doesn’t really know what it means to be Chinese (Tan 133). She progressively learns throughout the story what it means to be Chinese. She mentions of Aiyi and her father knowing Mandarin only while the rest of Aiyi’s family only knows Cantonese (Tan 137). This relates to setting due to the time and areas that Mandarin was spoken compared to where Cantonese is spoken now. The narrator was shocked to see the elegance of the hotel they were scheduled to stay in and the pricing (Tan 138). This can be interpreted as her being inexperienced while the rest of her family were either used to this kind of service or had no outstanding opinions upon it. The narrator starts to see her father in a different manner once he and Aiyi start conversing and onc...
Glaciers are one of the most fundamental phenomenon on the planet, and much of their purpose and impact on earth has been well documented and published. Ice sheets, Ice Caps and Glaciers trap nearly 90% of the world's fresh water, and are replenished by snowfall each year. Their existence on this planet dates back 650,000,000 years and yet they are always moving, always shifting and always melting. Before, human existence and even during the brief era of humans, ice dominated all of the earth's landmass and have regulated, created and altered many of the landscapes around the world.
In conclusion we can agree that the use of both foreignization and domestication should be used when translating a text and/or movie. We can see that the successful use of mashing both techniques can lead to an accurate translation.
McDougall, Bonnie. "Problems and Possibilities in Translating Contemporary Chinese Literature." The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs (1991): 37-67.
safe would you feel knowing that natural disasters such as this may not only increase in
The procedure we are going to examine here is the equivalence in translation at word level, or, as we will see, the lack of equivalence. This procedure is possible when the translator in able find a SL textual item replacement in the TL, the closest possible to the original meaning and style. Many people could think that this is an easy task and that many languages can be translated by using this particular method; we will see how complicated it can be.
To begin with a brief definition of translation, it can be stated that it is basically transferring the words included in one language to the other by making necessary changes and sticking to the source language taken from either the source text or source speech. With the help of rapid technology and the network among countries, the significance given to translation has become an indispensable part of wide range of business and communication purposes. The source determines whether it will be a job of translators or interpreters. It is important to refer each of them by explaining the differences between them at this point.
...eded. I wish I could take this class more early. When I saw the responses from classmates, the responses were very different because the experience of each classmate is different. Now, I realize how diverse the customers would be. Even though most of the customers were from United States, I am not from United States. I could not understand what they need in first place. I have seen some ads example showing how simply translating words is not enough. Pepsi Cola’s “Come Alive With Pepsi” campaign when it was translated for the Taiwanese market, conveyed the unsetting news that, “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.” This shows that deeper understanding of the other culture is necessary to translate meaning effectively. In short, cross cultural communication is relatively important for me when I want to do business international or domestically.