This study examines the reception by a Dutch target audience of subtitled puns in the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother by expanding on the BA Thesis “Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling of...Show moreThis study examines the reception by a Dutch target audience of subtitled puns in the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother by expanding on the BA Thesis “Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling of Humour in How I Met Your Mother”. For this thesis, a questionnaire is conducted, asking questions about the participants’ viewing habits, their understanding of subtitles and puns, and finally their assessment of four short fragments. The translation strategies that are used in this study are omission, literal translation, and transposition. This reception study is substantiated by previous studies concerning translation strategies, different types of puns, and studies of the reception of subtitles. This is used to prove or disprove the hypothesis that a target audience will experience the most joy in puns that are subtitled using the transposition strategy, since this best conveys humorous instances both creatively and enjoyably. The participants’ answers are analysed and a conclusion is drawn, where recommendations to future subtitlers will be given to improve their subtitling process and enhance the audience’s enjoyment. Lastly, a guide for possible future studies will be implemented.Show less
This study aimed to gain understanding of the directive behavior of 4- and 5- year-old English-speaking children in child-to-child and child-caretaker interactions. The research analyzed 660...Show moreThis study aimed to gain understanding of the directive behavior of 4- and 5- year-old English-speaking children in child-to-child and child-caretaker interactions. The research analyzed 660 directives extracted from 10 hours of video recordings. The findings showed that the compliance with the directive was influenced by the speaker's familiarity with their surroundings and the degree of directness of the directive. Additionally, children who were more familiar with each other used more indirect directives, while 4-year-olds used more indirect directives than 5-year-olds. A pattern was observed where children phrased their directives differently when speaking to a teacher or to a peer, with directives to teachers being less direct and relying more on the teacher's inference skills.Show less
Several studies have focused on the definition of culture-specific items (CSIs), the categorization of CSIs into different types, and the different procedures that can be used to translate them....Show moreSeveral studies have focused on the definition of culture-specific items (CSIs), the categorization of CSIs into different types, and the different procedures that can be used to translate them. Furthermore, many studies have investigated the potential existence of translation norms, which are not directly observable entities that are present within different cultural groups and which influence translation behavior. This study combines the topics of CSIs and translation norms to formulate a potential norm that governs English-to-Dutch subtitling of CSIs in non-fiction television that generally values either source- or target-oriented translations. The two genres of non-fiction television analyzed in this study are reality and documentary television. The existence of a potential translation norm is investigated through data triangulation, which, in this study, means that a corpus as a textual source and a questionnaire as an extratextual source are analyzed. Observable patterns identified in the corpus and potentially normative statements gathered using the questionnaire indicate the existence of a translation norm that values mainly source-oriented translations of CSIs in English-to-Dutch subtitling of non-fiction television. Furthermore, the results indicate that the preferred CSI translations in the documentary series subtitles tend to be more source-oriented than CSI translations in the reality show subtitles. The results also show that the thematic category of CSIs can function as an indicator of whether their translation is generally more source- or target-oriented. Further research is needed to test whether the audiovisual television productions analyzed are representative of English-to-Dutch subtitled reality and documentary television, and whether the questionnaire results, based on a relatively low number of questions and participants, are representative of how a general Dutch audience evaluates CSI translations.Show less
This thesis serves as a first study on the topic of jazz song translation. As there seems to be no previous research by translation scholars on this topic, the aim is to take a broad approach that...Show moreThis thesis serves as a first study on the topic of jazz song translation. As there seems to be no previous research by translation scholars on this topic, the aim is to take a broad approach that might serve as a point of departure for further research. The research question for this study is: “Are there any similarities between the selected jazz song translations that could suggest a general translation strategy for jazz songs?” which is answered through the analysis of three jazz song translations of varying language pairs, chosen to form a broad selection representative of the variety of the genre. The method of analysis is based on Johan Franzon’s concepts of the five choices of a song translator and his three layers of singability, as well as - to a lesser degree - on Peter Low’s Pentathlon Principle. By placing the songs in the framework of five choices and studying the different aspects of the music and lyrics as described by Franzon, the results for the three songs can be compared to detect any similarities that could suggest an overall pattern. Comparison of the analyses points out that the three songs do not have enough in common to suggest a general translation strategy. Nevertheless, this fits into the emphasis within jazz on improvisation, experimentation and individuality, and having ruled out a general strategy clears the way for future research to focus more on unique approaches to jazz song translation.Show less
There is a distressing lack of Translation Studies research into analog game translation as well as practices of non-professional interpreting and translation (NPIT). Firstly, a Translation Studies...Show moreThere is a distressing lack of Translation Studies research into analog game translation as well as practices of non-professional interpreting and translation (NPIT). Firstly, a Translation Studies perspective is missing in the emerging interdisciplinary field of Role Playing Game Studies, even though language generally forms the main substance of such games. Secondly, NPIT research has so far largely neglected the study of non-institutional, non-crisis contexts. In bilingual play of the most well-known role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons in the Netherlands, practices of translation and translanguaging abound. This means there are previously neglected spaces of translation and interpreting which indicate major gaps in the research areas of Translation Studies and Game Studies alike. New perspectives and theoretical frameworks need to be developed to address those gaps and gain a better understanding of how the practice of translation occurs in spaces that have up to now been largely ignored.Show less
Songs are often translated for musical films and stage musicals. In order to gain more insight into this type of translation, research is needed. While there has been some research, there is still...Show moreSongs are often translated for musical films and stage musicals. In order to gain more insight into this type of translation, research is needed. While there has been some research, there is still a lot to be done in the field of song translation. There are, for example, hardly any comparative studies on different translations of the same song into the same language for different singable purposes. This thesis therefore compares the Dutch translations of songs from Disney’s The Lion King in both the film and the musical version, in order to see if the differences between these translations can be caused by a different focus. This was done by determining the overall translation approach in all songs using Franzon’s (2008) five choices in translation. Additionally, both versions were analysed for the aspects of Low’s (2005) Pentathlon Principle. It was then determined on which aspect the translations focussed. For the film translation, the factors of dubbing, i.e. the visuals and lip synchrony, were taken into account as well. The results show that both the film and the musical translation generally adapt the lyrics to the music. However, the results also show that the film translation generally stayed closer to the ST with regard to sense, compared to the musical translation. This could sometimes be explained by the visuals or the need for lip synchrony. We also see that the musical translation makes more use of singable vowels in long notes than the film translation. Still, the results show that both versions mainly seemed to focus on the rhyme.Show less
This thesis examines peace negotiations as a critical discussion, analysing what strategies are used in peace talks and the strategic manoeuvring used in each stage of the argumentative activity...Show moreThis thesis examines peace negotiations as a critical discussion, analysing what strategies are used in peace talks and the strategic manoeuvring used in each stage of the argumentative activity based on the topical potential, audience demands and presentational devices. Following Van Eemeren’s (2010) extended pragma-dialectical theory, the thesis, after establishing the theoretical framework on negotiations as a communicative type, the stages and the participants of a peace negotiation and the peace processes and approaches that are adopted during a peace negotiation, analyses the strategies that are used in each stage of the peace negotiations between the United States and Vietnam, that led to the end of the war in Vietnam and to the signing of a peace agreement between the U.S and Vietnam. The thesis concludes with the identification of strategies used in the U.S and North Vietnam peace talks and a discussion about the degree of success of the strategies used in the U.S and Vietnam peace negotiations that led to the a mutually accepted peace accord.Show less
This thesis questions whether dangling topics, also often called ''Chinese-style'' topics really only occur in Chinese. This is done by investigating Chinese (from mainland China and Taiwan),...Show moreThis thesis questions whether dangling topics, also often called ''Chinese-style'' topics really only occur in Chinese. This is done by investigating Chinese (from mainland China and Taiwan), Japanese, Turkish and Dutch. The results show that dangling topics in Chinese are only possible to a certain extent. Moreover, they are also acceptable in other languages (although mostly in marginal contexts).Show less
Ambiguity resolution has been a topic of debate in language processing models. The present study investigated the impact of punctuation and working memory in Garden Path structures and related...Show moreAmbiguity resolution has been a topic of debate in language processing models. The present study investigated the impact of punctuation and working memory in Garden Path structures and related these concepts with assumptions made under the Good Enough parsing approach. A word-by-word self-paced reading task was used to assess the effects. A backwards digit span and a reading span task were administered to measure the participant’s working memory capacity. The study found evidence for the presence of Garden Path effects in Late Closure structures. In the form of response accuracy to the comprehension questions, the data supports the Good Enough parsing approach’s assumption that ambiguities are not fully resolved. The scores on the backwards digit span task correlated positively with response accuracy on comprehension questions while reading span scores did not. Punctuation did not impact reading time of the disambiguating region nor response accuracy.Show less
Objectives/research questions: This thesis looks at Dutch-English determiner-noun code-switches and investigates whether there is a preference for the language of the determiner, whether the...Show moreObjectives/research questions: This thesis looks at Dutch-English determiner-noun code-switches and investigates whether there is a preference for the language of the determiner, whether the position of the switched nominal construction and language dominance affect these preferences; and whether these preferences support the predictions of the Minimalist Program (MP), which predicts that the languages with more phi features provides the determiner, or the Matrix Language Frame Model (MLF), which predicts that the determiner will come from the Matrix Language (ML). This thesis also investigates how grammatical gender assignment is resolved in a code-switch involving a Dutch determiner followed by an English noun, and how language dominance affects this. Methodology: The participants (N = 68, aged between 20 – 77) were split into a Dutch-dominant group, an English-dominant group, and a balanced Dutch-English bilingual group, based on their dominance score, which was calculated from their global language score as measured by the Bilingual Language Profile questionnaire. Participants completed two two-alternative forced-choice acceptability tasks (2AFC); one where they evaluated the acceptability of sentences with code-switches between the determiner and the noun that reflected the predictions of the MP, the MLF, of both, or none. The second task tested which Dutch grammatical gender the participant assigned to an English noun. Data and analysis: Results from the first 2AFC were analysed using Thurstone’s Law of Comparative Judgment, while the results of the second 2AFC task were used to create a frequency distribution of Dutch grammatical gender marking. Results: A general preference for an English determiner followed by a Dutch noun was found, though this preference is influenced by the matrix language of the sentence, the position of the code-switch in the sentence, as well as language dominance of the bilingual. The first task provided evidence supporting both the predictions of the MLF and the MP, as participants preferred a Dutch determiner followed by an English noun in pre-verbal position, which is what the MLF predicts, but participants preferred an English determiner followed by a Dutch noun in post-verbal position, which is what the MP predicts. Results from the second task suggest the common determiner de is preferred for English nouns by all participants, regardless of language dominance and regardless of the grammatical gender of the translation equivalent. Originality: Following Parafita Couto and Stadthagen-González’s methodology (2019), this study is one of the first studies to use the 2AFC acceptability judgment task analysed using Thurstone’s Law of Comparative Judgment to directly contrast the predictions of the MP and MLF, and is the first study to do so while controlling for language dominance. Furthermore, this study investigates a language pair that has yet to be researched extensively, in addition to investigating how grammatical gender assignment is resolved. Implications: Results provide evidence for a default gender assignment strategy, as well as evidence for a difference in code-switching preferences depending on language dominance. Furthermore, the results support Parafita Couto and Stadthagen-González’s (2019) suggestion that a theory that combines both the MLF and MP would be more useful to explain Dutch-English code-switches than either framework separately.Show less
Interjections such as 'wow', 'mhm' or 'oh boy', can be defined as conventionalized lingui,stic items that typically constitute a non-elliptical utterance of their own and express a speaker’s...Show moreInterjections such as 'wow', 'mhm' or 'oh boy', can be defined as conventionalized lingui,stic items that typically constitute a non-elliptical utterance of their own and express a speaker’s attitude towards a situation. Many studies have debated about topics like the extent of the interjection class, or the semantics of different types of interjections. However, the context of conversation is needed to truly grasp the way interjections are used in spoken language. This study investigates the interjections of Avatime, a Kwa language of Ghana, focusing specifically on how they are used in interactional discourse. I construct an inventory of the interjections used in a collection of Avatime conversations.I then analyze the functions, positions and multimodal properties of these interjections. The great majority of attested interjections are phatic in function (e.g., backchanneling or expressing agreement), while there is relatively little room for interjections expressing emotions. Most interjections occur on their own (as is part of their definition) or turn-initially. Avatime speakers also regularly communicate in sequences that consist of only interjections. Furthermore, conversation is not unimodal, and neither are interjections. A quarter of the Avatime interjections occur with a gesture (with hand, head or other body parts), although facial expressions are rarely involved in producing gestures. Furthermore, there seems to be great areal convergence of interjections in Avatime and surrounding languages, which are all influenced by the regional lingua franca Ewe. To better understand these areal patterns, and to place interjections in a wider typological perspective, more empirical studies like the present one are needed. Only with comparable data from diverse languages can we understand the use of interjections in conversations around the world, which ultimately is fundamental to understanding human interaction.Show less
There exists a significant amount of research on translation strategies regarding the subtitling of humour and wordplay. However, the translation of eggcorns, malapropisms, and other types of...Show moreThere exists a significant amount of research on translation strategies regarding the subtitling of humour and wordplay. However, the translation of eggcorns, malapropisms, and other types of linguistic blunders have been largely ignored. This thesis attempts to fill this research gap by investigating the translation strategies used for linguistic blunders, or ‘Rickyisms’, in the Dutch subtitles of the Netflix mockumentary Trailer Park Boys. The strategies omission, literal translation, and retention, which occur in taxonomies of existing research were identified. A high rate of omission (64.4%) indicates a significant loss of Rickyisms and humour for the following reasons: no suitable Dutch equivalent (21.5%), temporal/spatial restrictions (15.4%), and grammatical errors (33.8%). Additionally, an overlap between temporal/spatial restrictions and grammatical errors (13.8%) and some omissions which are unjustified (15.4%) were identified. A new two-phase model for the strategies where the Rickyism is retained has been developed. Phase one pertains to the translation of the phrase as if it were correct and phase two pertains to the translation of the error. This resulted in the categories Literal-Literal (58.3%), Literal-Substitution (13.9%), and Substitution-Substitution (27.8%). This first strategy seems to be the preferred one when the linguistic properties of the source and target language permit it. Substitution in phase two includes numerous different shifts in terms of type of error.Show less
