The Analysis of Subtitling: Pirates of the Caribbean. On Stranger Tides

This paper describes the current situation of the audiovisual translation in Romania and the characteristics of subtitling audiovisual translation, which is the modality extensively used in this country. The methodologies that we have followed in this study are the descriptive and comparative type, and aim to describe the conventions which are governing the subtitles in the case of distributed DVD movies. For this we have analyzed the subtitling of an American film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Marshall, 2011), to see if these conventions are applied or not, and to what extent.


Introduction
Romania is one of the countries of the former Eastern Europe which is employing as a mode of audiovisual translation, subtitling, for both film and television.Whether for political or economic reasons, this type of translation has been the mostly used tool to translate the avalanche of programs and films that have occurred in the audiovisual field after the Romanian Revolution of 1989.But there are few references regarding the development of this practice and whether or not it is following the standards and conventions applied in the countries of Western Europe and America.Therefore, in my work I intend to describe the characteristics of subtitling in Romania, basing my study on empirical data and on data provided by other agents of the process (Bogdan Stănescu, TVR1).
My objective is to describe the characteristics of subtitling in Romania, starting from the next hypothesis: are the conventions followed and applied generally in subtitling in Europe guiding the professional practice of subtitling in Romania?As theoretical foundation I use the theoretical postulates of Toury (1995) for Translation Studies.The methodologies followed in this study are the descriptive and the comparative types.

Corpus
The object of study of this work is a DVD movie subtitled in Romanian entitled Pirații din Caraibe: pe ape și mai tulburi (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Marshall, 2011).Since it is a product that is aimed at almost all ages, the translator needs to choose carefully the language used in the subtitles.

Methodology
In this case study, I used the descriptivist methodology type exposed by Toury (1995).For Toury (1995: 55), translation is a process subject to various types of restrictions, not only linguistic but also socio-cultural, which implies the creation of standards for achieving success in both languages.
At the time of taking decisions about how to make a translation, and apply conventions, Toury distinguishes between absolute rules (objective) and idiosyncratic rules (subjective).Between the two poles, he includes the translation norms, which can also be defined as more rigid or flexible, since the boundaries between different types of rules are diffuse.In his studies, the author highlights the existence of regularities of behavior in translation within a specific socio-cultural situation.He employs the concept of norms as an analysis tool to justify their essentially descriptive approach.
Theoreticians consider that the translator's work is influenced, at the same time conditioned by several spatiotemporal or sociocultural factors.Therefore, Toury (1995: 53) analyzes the rules as fundamental elements in the translation process, because the translator is responsible for searching the linguistic and textual equivalence, but at the same time is forced to determine the level of acceptability that their product will have on the community to which is aimed the target text.
The approach to the analysis of norms that Toury proposed is descriptive, and can vary according to time and cultures.Under this criterion the theorist establishes three types of translation norms, those governing the equivalence between the original text and the target text: initial, preliminary and operational.The concept of norms which Toury proposes (1995: 57) can be considered as a form of control and order that aims to the regularity, the prediction or the cohesion in all types of translations, including audiovisual translation.

Analysis criteria
Given the constraints we have just presented, which are after all, the intrinsic characteristics of subtitling, and the description of the matrix norms or recurrences which are governing the form of Romanian subtitles, in this paper we analyze:  The form of subtitles in Romanian (number of lines, characters and subtitles position). The orthotypographic conventions, which govern the realization of translation (ellipsis, exclamation and question mark, numbers, abbreviations, other symbols: %, €, $, &, £). The criteria which determine the synthesis of information in Romanian subtitle (vocative, name, interjections, words known to the audience, omitting a foreign language). The criteria which govern programming and location subtitling (the rule of 6 seconds, exchange plan, synchronization with video and audio). The reading speed of subtitles in Romanian (words per minute / characters per second, the audience).These five fields or areas allow us to obtain a preliminary picture of what the matrix norms of subtitling in Romanian are, but always bearing in mind that it is a case study, which therefore cannot aspire to universal validity.Other studies are necessary for validating or invalidating the findings of this study.
Using the analysis criteria below, we will analyze the data obtained and verify the changes that occur between the original film and the film subtitled in Romanian, according to the techniques and conventions that the translator is using.
The file, therefore, consists of the following fields: However, after the analysis of our corpus we have been able to confirm a majority of one-line subtitles, compared to a minority of two-line subtitles: 43% two lines and 57% on line.Of 43% two-line subtitle, more than one quarter (27, 56%) are subtitles that represent two persons dialogs, which must be written in two lines.The remaining 72, 44% are subtitles that represent dialogues of the same person.Of these, 76, 09%, of its length (over 40 characters) must be two lines (the information does not fit into one).However, in the remaining 23, 91%, subtitles with less than 40 characters in total, one may notice an obvious will to segment the information in two lines, when this information could fit on one line.This tendency must be validated on a larger corpus, although at the moment it serves to validate the hypothesis launched by the agents of the process.

Number of characters per line
In the long subtitle of two lines, according to the European conventions it is advisable that every line is between 28 and 40 characters and spaces, although the number most often used in European companies is 35 according to Díaz Cintas (2003).A greater number of characters make the reading of subtitles difficult.Choosing these criteria also depends on the distributors or of the transmission channel.In Romania, the maximum number of characters per line that is used subtitling is 40.In example 2, we have a bilinear long subtitle; the subtitler has chosen to use from 40 to 29 characters.By character we understood a letter, a number, a space or a punctuation mark Castro Roig

Positioning of the subtitle on screen
The position of subtitles on the screen may vary according to personal preferences (Díaz Cintas 2003), but it is advisable to center the subtitle text on the screen, taking into account the public's perception.The action occurs at the center of the screen, and thus the distance that the eye has to travel to read the message is reduced.
In Romania, the subtitles are positioned in the center of the screen at its underside; we have exemplified this with a short monoline subtitle (Example 3) to reflect that the position is the same, regardless of the number of characters it contains.This one line appears centered in the lower part, in the second of the two lines which are reserved for the subtitles.Sir.
-Dle.Type of convention: Form of subtitle.Partition lines and subtitles.Problem: Positioning of the subtitle on screen Table 3. Positioning of the subtitle on screen

Orthotypographic conventions
The presentation of subtitles on the screen is not random, but fits a series of formal conventions that the translator has to take into consideration.The task of the subtitler is to facilitate the reading of the viewer, and therefore the subtitler appropriates certain punctuation rules (Dejica 2010) and orthotypographic norms which conventionally have a specific meaning (Díaz Cintas 2003).

Ellipses
Ellipses have a double value in audiovisual translation.It can be used to indicate that a phrase does not end with the subtitle we are reading, and therefore, continues in the next.In these cases, three dots are written at the end of the first uncompleted subtitle and before the beginning of the next subtitle that complete the sentence (Chaume 2004), although the modern tendency is to remove the ellipsis in subtitles: It can be observed, therefore, that in the Romanian subtitles, the ellipsis follow the guidelines of the existing conventions; however, the difference is that when ellipsis is positioned at the beginning of the subtitle, there is a space between the ellipsis marks and the following word.
The other value which is given to the ellipsis is to mark a pause, an interruption or a hesitation in discourse (Díaz Cintas 2003).In this case, the marks are attached to the preceding word, while being separated by a space of following word: In our example ellipses are used with the same function, but the difference is that there is a space between the ellipsis marks and the words that precede and follow them.

Exclamation and question mark
The question marks are used to mark a question, while the exclamation marks a phrase that expresses emotion, joy, sorrow, or rejection.In Spanish, exclamation marks and question marks are always two: one is used one at the beginning of the sentence, and the other, at the end.In subtitles, the signs of opening (¿) y (¡) are separated by a space from the word preceding them, while the ones of closing are not (Díaz Cintas 2003).
However, under the influence of the English language, there is a trend to remove one of these typographic marks, especially at the beginning of a question or exclamation.In Romanian, these exclamatory and interrogative marks are used only at the end of the sentence, following the norms of the Romanian language: [Juror] Guilty?[Gibbs] [Gibbs] That´s not fair!-Vinovat?
-Nu e drept!Type of convention: Orthotypographic conventions Problem: Exclamation and question mark Table 6.Exclamation and question marks Therefore, in subtitles, the marks are used according to the punctuation normative usage in the target language, in our case Romanian, with no space between the marks and the preceding word, as shown in example 6.

Numbers
Numbers can also be a subject for the reduction strategy of the original material, as Ivarsson and Carroll (1998: 119) claim.Thus it is recommended, when the spatial coordinates allow it, to write the cardinal numbers from 1 to 10 with letters and other figures.However, there are exceptions to this rule, including the days of the month, the numbers of flats, apartments and hotel rooms, which are always written in figures.For millions and billions, words are used, not the numbers with the corresponding zeros, because long numbers may be difficult to read.
The translator, Bogdan Stănescu confirms this tendency of using numbers in Romanian subtitles, as well: We observe that, in this case, the translator uses in the Romanian subtitle the letters to mark the numeral (două) in the same way as it is employed in the English subtitle.

Abbreviations
Abbreviations are the representation of a word with one or several of its letters.They are used in order to save space and are always written with a dot at the end: The word domnilor (gentlemen) is abbreviated in the film as dlor; however, in the original text there is no abbreviation, while in the target text the abbreviation is used.

Other symbols (%, €, $, &, £)
Symbols are representations, with one or several spellings, of words that belong to specialized fields.There are some symbols, which given their familiarity, can be used without any problems in subtitles.An example of such symbols may be the British monetary unit, the pound sterling: In this case, as seen in Example 10, the translator has chosen to use the term which denotes the coin, and not its symbol.

Synthesis of information
Subtitles can only be projected within certain physical and temporal limits established (Díaz Cintas 2003).Due to the fact that the number of words we hear in the oral text is greater than the number of words that can fit in the written text, the translator of the target text has to decide which elements of the original text can be condensed or omitted in the translation, in such a way that this process does not affect the target text grammar or its comprehension.

Vocatives
The vocatives are the words used to invoke, call or name a person.The most common vocative case is the name of the wing person we headed, and with them the speaker draws the attention of the receiver.Since these vocatives are heard on screen, the subtitle can be done without them, because the viewer can receive this information via audio track: Example 11 shows that in Romanian subtitles, the translator opts not to translate the vocative, as our interviewee had also confirmed.

Repetitions
Repetitions can also be subject to omission; however, in some circumstances, repetitions of the original version are maintained: In our corpus, the translator has opted to keep some repetitions, as in the previous example.This occurs at 35, 72% of the cases where repetitions appear in the source text.

Names and surnames
In the case of names and surnames, the first time that they are pronounced on screen, it is necessary to transcribe (or translate) in subtitles, thus the viewer can identify the personage from the beginning.
According to our interviewee, it is essential to translate the names at the beginning, middle and end of the film, so that the viewers who couldn't watch the movie from the beginning can recognize them: Example 13 TCR: 01:42:18 Title of the film in Romanian: Pirații din Caraibe: Pe Ape Și Mai Tulburi Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [Angelica] [Angelica] Jack, I'm starting to think you do not know where you're going.

Table 13.Names and surnames
In our corpus, the subtitler considers that the character can be identified without having to translate his or her name; therefore s/he omits the translation of the name.

Phatic function markers
The phatic function markers tend to disappear in subtitles, since they do not provide crucial information to the viewer (Díaz Cintas and Remael 2007): Example 14 TCR: 10:47 Title of the film in Romanian: Pirații din Caraibe: Pe Ape Și Mai Tulburi Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Sparrow] [Sparrow ] Quite recently, in fact.

[King ]
[King ] I have a report.
-Am un raport.Type of convention: Synthesis of information Problem: Phatic function markers Table 14.Phatic function markers However, these are not always omitted.In Example 14, we see that the translator chooses to keep the markers into the target text.This tendency occurs in 70% of the markers of the phatic function found in the original text.

Performative verbs, modals and verb periphrasis
In subtitles, the use of simple tenses instead of compounds is favored, while there is also a tendency to avoid verbal periphrasis:  The same preference can be noticed in the Romanian subtitles, and in this way space is saved.Omitting the auxiliary "should" in Example 15, the bilinear subtitle in English becomes monoline in Romanian.

Words well known by audience (no, yes, one-two-three)
In most cases, the expressions easily understood by the audience, because of their similarity in both languages, are omitted in translation:  Agents of the process confirm that sometimes these words (yes, no, one-twothree, etc.) can be omitted since the public knows them and their translation is not necessary.In our object of study, this occurs in 10% of the occurrences in which yes or no words appear as isolated adverbs in a sentence.

Omission of another foreign language
The language of film analyzed is English; however, sometimes some of the actors speak Spanish.When performing the analysis we have noted that both in the original film and in the one subtitled in Romanian, the sentences presented in Spanish are not translated: As Example 17 shows, in the original film as well as in the Romanian version, subtitlers have chosen to omit all spoken phrases in Spanish, without adding any explanation.Further studies should confirm whether the omission of what is called third language (Corrius 2008) is a recurring fact, or only occurs with Romanesque languages.

Spotting 2.4.1. Rule 6 seconds: maximum and minimum seconds for the subtitle on screen
We have previously commented on the timing patterns that are applied and also on the European conventions following the conventions which govern the creation of subtitles in Romanian.According to the data provided by Bogdan Stănescu, the subtitles composed of two complete lines can remain 7 seconds on the screen, as maximum time, and a minimum of 5 seconds, to be legible.This means one second more, compared to the standards in the rest of Europe: Example 18 TCR: 49:07 Title of the film in Romanian: Pirații din Caraibe: Pe Ape Și Mai Tulburi Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [Barbossa] And every worthless seaman Fears the name, and rightly so, Și toți navigatorii neisprăviți se tem de numele ăsta, și pe bună dreptate, Type of convention: Spotting Problem: Rule 6 seconds: maximum and minimum seconds for subtitled on screen Table 18.Rule 6 seconds: maximum and minimum seconds for the subtitle on screen In our corpus, two complete lines oscillate on the screen between 5 and 7 seconds.The subtitle in Example 18 remained five seconds on screen.Given the impossibility of extracting the subtitles in a text file because of the protection of the film, we analyzed a sample to 20 subtitles of two complete lines.All of them remained on screed between 5 and 7 seconds.

Changing subtitle as the scene changes or changes from ON to OFF
The subtitles must respect, as much as possible, the cuts and changes of the scene or chapter.The subtitle should disappear from the screen before the scene change takes place: In our corpus, both scene changes are respected, as the ON-OFF changes: in both cases the previous subtitle always disappears, and the new plan is opened with a new subtitle.Being an action movie, this was possible where the changes of scenes are continuous and in this way the translator facilitates the viewer's understanding of the film.For the translator it is also easy to respect this rule.

Synchronization between the picture and the sound
The input and output of the subtitles should correspond to the moments of enunciation of the dialogues, which requires a temporal synchronicity between the time of enunciation of the oral text and the onset on the screen of the text written.
However, if the message conveyed is characterized by a high semantic density, a margin of asynchrony is accepted in the subtitle delivery from 1 to 2 seconds (Díaz Cintas and Remael 2007).In our corpus, the patterns that mark the conventions are respected.

Reading speed 2.5.1. Words per minute / characters per second
The criterion applied in Romania to measure reading speed is the lettering per second; the rule that is used is 15 characters per second, including spaces.In our corpus, we checked the reading speeds of the following subtitles:  a subtitle of a word. a subtitle of midline. a subtitle of a complete line. a subtitle of a line and a half. a subtitle of two complete lines.
The results are presented in As Table 20 shows, the last two subtitles (complete lines), do not meet the standard.Since our findings are limited to only 20 lines, further research should be made to confirm or infirm this tendency.

Audience (age, literacy level, target subtitle, familiarization with the subtitles)
Our interviewee subtitled for both young people and adults, and therefore the subtitling norms that have been provided to us are applied to genres with a large number of viewers.As Romania is a country where subtitling has always been used as a mode of audiovisual translation, the public is already accustomed to reading speed, as to the other conventions of subtitles.

Conclusions
Audiovisual translation, and particularly subtitling, is a form of translation widely researched and criticized, by both theorists and the general publicthe reason for that being especially that subtitling is treated as a vulnerable type of translation.In this study we have considered it necessary to disclose some techniques which are fundamental in this process, so professionals and viewers know that the subtitler have to follow subtitling rules and conventions, and at the same time the linguistic particularities of the target language.That is why the decisions made in the process of subtitling are conditioned by the rules governing this type of translation and not only by the individual decisions of the translator.
In general, we can say that according to the information provided by the agents of the process in Romania, conventions are followed and applied in accordance to the subtitling practices in Europe.However, our analysis has also revealed that there are exceptions to the case.
Our study and analysis are also useful in that they detail the professional conventions of subtitling in Romania (which however, cannot be generalized).Our hypothesis according to which the conventions followed and applied in subtitling in Europe are generally those that guide the practice of subtitling in Romania, has also been confirmed.
(2001: 278) Example 2 TCR: 09:41 Title of the film in Romanian: Pirații din Caraibe: Pe Ape și Mai Tulburi Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [Man] You are in the presence of George Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, Te afli in prezenta lui George Augustus, duce de Brunswick-Luneburg, Type of convention: Form of subtitle.Partition lines and subtitles.Problem: Number of characters per line of the film in Romanian: Pirații din Caraibe: Pe Ape Și Mai Tulburi Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides[Soldier] Title of the film in Romanian: Pirații din Caraibe: Pe Ape Și Mai Tulburi Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [Juror] of the film in Romanian: Pirații din Caraibe: Pe Ape Și Mai Tulburi Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [Jailer] [Jailer] Or should I say, "Captain Pirate"?Sau să spun "Capitane Pirat"?Type of convention: Synthesis of information Problem: Performative verbs, modalizers and verb periphrasis film in Romanian: Pirații din Caraibe: Pe Ape Și Mai Tulburi Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides [of convention: Synthesis of information Problem: Words well known by audience Note: I would like to thank Mr. Bogdan Stănescu for his unconditional collaboration on this project.The first part of this study(Vulpoiu 2016) was published in Dejica, Hansen, Sandrini, Para (2016).

Table 1 .
Number of lines per subtitle

Table 2 .
Number of characters per line

Table 7 .
NumbersHowever, in our corpus we have observed that cardinal numerals are used in subtitles in both figures and letters, although in the English subtitles, it is written in letters (Example 8):

Table 8 .
Numbers with letters

Table 16 .
Words well known by audience (no, yes, one-two-three)

Table 17 .
Omission of another foreign language

Table 19 .
Changing subtitle as scene change or changes from ON to OFF

Table 20 .
Reading speed of five subtitles of different length